Vidia's Revenge
by Nerdherder51
Summary: While rounding up the sprinting thistles, Vidia's resentment towards Tinker Bell reaches a critical mass. She formulates a plan for revenge, but will it succeed brilliantly or fall apart at the seams? My first attempt at a fan fiction of any sort. Thank you for reading and reviewing.
1. Chapter 1

**VIDIA'S REVENGE**

**Author's Notes:**

**This story occurs within the movie universe and takes place shortly after the first ****_Tinker Bell_**** film, but before Tinker Bell acquires her teakettle home. **

**I have extrapolated Vidia's world view from the dialogue with her first meeting with Tinker Bell. I have only seen the four movies and ****_The Pixie Hollow Games_**** short. I have not read the books, but I do have access to Disney Fairies Wiki and other online resources so some book only characters may appear or be referenced.**

**This is my first attempt at a fan fiction of any type so please take this into consideration when reviewing the story content. I will gladly receive and consider all critiques, suggestions and assistance offered (I can certainly use it). Thank you.**

**Disclaimer: Tinker Bell, Disney Fairies and all associated characters and content are the property of The Walt Disney Company, the character of Tinker Bell originated by J. M. Barrie. This fan fiction is not intended for profit or monetary gain and exists solely for the purpose of fan entertainment. **

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Chapter 1

Vidia tumbled about as she was dragged across the hard ground while trying to reign in two of the sprinting thistles. She had been assigned the task by Queen Clarion as punishment when it was discovered Vidia had coerced the young Tinker Bell into trying to capture these same thistles, an endeavor which nearly ended in disaster for the nature talent fairies that were set to take spring to the mainland.

Queen Clarion's stated reason for assigning this task to Vidia was that the fast flyer's talents were properly suited to chasing down the thistles, but the queen also wanted Vidia to understand her culpability in the event and to realize just how disturbingly poor her judgment had been simply because her ego was bruised. Whatever the reasons, Vidia hated every second she spent chasing the speedy weeds and the intended lesson was completely lost on her. As far as Vidia was concerned, Tinker Bell was solely responsible for her current predicament and she became the fixation of Vidia's growing anger and hatred.

"Lousy, little tinker fairy," Vidia muttered to herself once more. "Who does she think she is? I'm the only true rare talent in Pixie Hollow. Just because she couldn't capture the thistles doesn't mean I have to bring them in." The thistles she had roped turned and ran into a grassy field where it seemed like the purple clad fairy hit every single stalk and blade of grass along the way.

Vidia was using her fast flying abilities to try and drive the thistles towards Needlepoint Meadow. She would lasso them and then use strategic gusts of wind to "nudge" the thistles in the direction she wanted. As difficult as it was, holding on to them was the easy part. Controlling them was another matter entirely. The thistles consistently raced at top speeds and didn't always respond to her nudging winds. Once she lost control it could take as much as an hour to regain authority over the stampeding flora. It was during these periods that Vidia was often pulled through and over every kind of terrain in the Hollow. More than once the fast flyer was smacked in the face or body by flower stems, blades of grass, low hanging branches, butterflies, fuzzy animals that didn't get out of the way in time and sometimes even other fairies who were simply not being attentive.

The fast fairy had started out moving the weeds one at a time, but it was taking far too long. It would probably be winter by the time she would be finished and Vidia wanted to go to the mainland for summer to get away from both the thistles and Tinker Bell. So she started trying to rope two at a time. After all, Tinker Bell managed to wrangle two at once. _And if that no talent fairy could do it then I should have no problem_, the fast flyer surmised.

As it turned out she wasn't exactly right. Nor was she exactly wrong, either. It required more time and effort to guide two thistles rather than one, but her efforts were beginning to pay off. When taking one at a time Vidia could barely muster two a day back to Needlepoint Meadow. After a couple of days the pixie in purple discovered she could consistently drive a pair to the meadow in the morning, usually arriving by early afternoon. She would then have a late lunch and take a third later in the day finishing before the sun would set. Three a day was a pretty good clip and on the days when she could manage four, two in the morning and two in the afternoon, well that fourth one was all bonus and cut into her task even further.

Today was one of those bonus days. When Vidia finally managed to deliver the third and fourth thistle she resigned for the day and fluttered off for a good, warm bath. The fast flyer was covered in dirt, bruises and scratches. Her ponytail had come undone and her dark hair which had just the slightest plum colored tint was a tangle of twigs, brambles and stickers. Vidia's clothing was ripped and torn in several places and her wings were so dusty that they needed a good washing just to get to the bottom layer of dirt.

She growled under her breath as she once more thought about how that noxious little tinker took her place when the fairies went to the mainland this past spring. Vidia found it humiliating for Pixie Hollow's most talented fast flyer to be reduced to such a menial and laborious task_. I should have been the one to go the mainland where I could sweep gentle breezes across fields and meadows not be stuck here chasing these insane weeds through bramble patches and over hard scrabble ground. _ She had been stewing over this ever since the queen set the fast flyer to this task as punishment and effectively confined her to Never Land until every last thistle had been returned to Needlepoint Meadow. Now Vidia wanted to settle the score by turning the tables and punishing the fairy responsible for her current situation.

But how to go about it, how could Vidia affect her revenge on that blonde haired flitter-head without drawing the queen's ire? It had to be done in a way that looked like an accident, something that would pass her royal highness' sniff test. What could she do to Ree's precious little pet tinker that would teach that insufferable hammer toting pixie a good lesson?

_Tinker Bell spends most of her time in Tinker's Nook_, Vidia mused as she started spit balling ideas, _she lives there, she works there, most of her friends and co workers are there_. Suddenly Vidia stopped cold in her tracks. _She lives there_. That idea kept repeating itself in her mind as a malicious smile began to play across her face. Thistles were notorious for running wild and causing mayhem. _Hmmm…, now what would happen if I "lost control" of two of the thistles and they ran roughshod through Pixie Hollow and somehow ended up in Tinker's Nook? Perhaps, say, right through that little finker fairy's house?_

The fast flyer quickly dismissed the idea. A fairy's house was a private and safe place; to willfully damage it was considered a deeply personal affront. So Vidia began to consider other possibilities. However, the fact that fairy houses were so personal kept resonating with her. Vidia had taken her punishment as a deeply personal and status damaging insult. Isn't this then what she wanted? An equally personal assault aimed directly at Tinker Bell? Of course, the idea of employing the thistles against the tinker dripped with such sweet irony that it tasted like the most wonderful ambrosia.

Yes, it would garner the tinker fairy even more sympathy and there would be questions asked about how the thistles came to Tinker's Nook in light of the queen's punishment. But if Vidia could artfully play up the accident angle not only could she exact her revenge on Tinker Bell, but it might even get Queen Clarion to doubt her own counsel and possibly even rescind the punishment. This was such an intoxicating thought that Vidia swept aside her original misgivings and decided that this was how she wanted to commit her act of retribution.

Vidia thus settled on her plan and had the means to carry it out right at her fingertips. But which house belonged to the queen's favorite fairy? And how could she execute her plan so as to provide the desired result? Vidia needed to do some reconnaissance in Tinker's Nook to find out where Tinker Bell lived so she could determine her target. She resumed her trek to the baths, her scratches and bruises no longer bothered her as much as the fast flyer contentedly began working out a plan of action in her head.

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**Thank you for reading and please review.**


	2. Chapter 2

**VIDIA'S REVENGE**

**Chapter 2**

Sitting in a tree early the next morning Vidia looked down on the tinker's work place. Homes surrounded the courtyard and workshop of the pots and pans fairies. The houses were made from twigs or milled wood and were held together with dried, twisted vines and rested on roots or on elevated ground as a stream trickled through the residential district of the nook. The fast flyer kept watch high up in a tree from a "y" in the branches; she rested on a leaf to conceal herself as her purple garb was too easy to spot from the ground. The camouflage was necessary as her repeated presence there would surely raise suspicions after the fact.

_Why does everyone think tinkers are in any way equal to the fast flyers or even any other talent guild?_ Vidia asked herself. As far as she was concerned the Tinker Guild members were nothing special. They were little more than sweaty, smelly, low class manual laborers who should be kept in their place, namely this hole in the ground where they worked and lived. There was no glamour or necessity in their work. They wove baskets, carved acorn cups, made and mended pots and pans and on occasion built ridiculous machines that just got in the way of flying. Even doing those things didn't require any real talent, Vidia decided_, they just swing hammers and tie vines around sticks and twigs, any fairy can do that_.

_If Queen Ree had any sense she would keep this caste at the bottom rung of all the guilds and elevate the fast flyers to the top. We're the most important talent anyway_. The number of fairies in her guild was smaller than any other talent and all the nature talents that visited the mainland depended on the fast flyers in one fashion or another to complete their assigned seasonal work. These facts led her to erroneously conclude that rarity and necessity equaled prestige and that the fast flyers were deserving of special treatment on those virtues alone. Of course, in Vidia's world view being the most talented in her guild meant she would sit atop even the top dwelling fast flyers, which would make her the most important and influential fairy in all of Pixie Hollow and Never Land. It was a fantasy that nicely stroked her rebellious nature and self inflated ego. But she had a plan to complete so she shook off her daydreaming and went to back to monitoring that ditch where Pixie Hollow's bottom feeders dwelled.

"Now which 'hovel' belongs to my little tinker fairy?" she whispered to herself as she scanned the scene below. One by one, fairies began to emerge from their domiciles preparing for a day of hard work in the nook. Fairy Mary was the first to wake and emerge from her house. Vidia had to be especially careful around that one. The tinker overseer was a close personal friend of the queen's and wouldn't hesitate to relay even the slightest suspicion to her royal "pain in the wings" highness.

Shortly afterwards other tinker fairies woke and exited their homes in rapid succession over the course of several minutes. As she waited Vidia kept watching for Tinker Bell. That's when Vidia saw Fairy Mary flit over to one house in particular_. This could be it_, Vidia thought. The overseer banged on the door and yelled out, "Lucinda, wake up and get to work. You're always the last one every morning." Vidia grumbled, _false alarm_. A second later the hidden spy saw her quarry flittering in the air chatting with Bobble and Clank about something.

"Missed it, now I'll have to do this again tomorrow and I'm running out of thistles," Vidia said chiding herself. She was about to leave when a glint caught her eye. Peering almost straight down the irate fairy saw what she was looking for, a house made of twigs and branches wrapped with vines, covered in moss and topped with leaves that formed a roof. What made _this_ house so special was that it was adorned with lost things. She smiled a wicked smile. _Only a fairy obsessed with those clumsy humans would do something like that_. Vidia had her target, but now she needed an approach.

As she studied the location of the house it all came together for her. Tinker Bell's home was the first and only house situated on a portion of exposed root that jutted from a rise in the ground. A rise which surrounded the very tree where Vidia was perched, this made for an approach vector that could not be seen by those in the nook. Vidia could bring the thistles over the rise and let them run down the root right into Tinker Bell's house, destroying it entirely.

_Perfect_, Vidia thought. It _looks like the second star is twinkling in __my__ favor today._

Now all she had to do was trace a path, a path that could reasonably look like she couldn't control the thistles. As if everything she tried to guide them failed and they simply wound up here. Content with the success of her information gathering Vidia returned to her work where she found two exceptionally nasty thistles and after great effort finally managed to get them to Needlepoint Meadow. It took all day largely because her mind was distracted with swirling euphoria. She was as badly banged up as usual, but the discomfort was almost nonexistent. With the plan coming together so well Vidia paid almost no attention to the aches and pains she accrued while carrying out the queen's punishment. Instead, she focused on how great it would feel to finally have her long delayed satisfaction.

Over the next several days, Vidia woke extra early and perched herself in the same hiding place. She watched Tinker Bell emerge from her tinker made twig and branch house morning after morning. The fast flyer learned the tinker's routines: when she exited the house, when she reentered, when she left Tinker's Nook, when she came back, what times she worked. She recorded everything about the tinker's schedule at the nook because Vidia didn't just want to destroy Tinker Bell's home; she wanted to do it with Tinker Bell watching. The fast flyer wanted the tinker fairy to have a prime, front row seat for the annihilation. _The look on her face when that ugly house gets smashed will be priceless._

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**If you believe that I have extrapolated Vidia's world view a little too far afield from what she voiced in the film please let me know in the reviews. **

**It is necessary for the story to work, so it is unlikely to be heavily altered. Helpful suggestions would be appreciated, though.**

**Thank you for reading and reviewing**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Her day finally came. Vidia reviewed her plan once more, visualizing the path she would take starting from the grassy field where some thistles were loose, then getting "dragged" around and about all of Pixie Hollow in plain sight feigning little or no control all the way and finally to the rise, going up, over and down to the root and into Tinker Bell's home. Vidia would then let the weeds run wild a bit through Tinker's Nook to complete the deception before subtly guiding the sprinting thistles out of the area.

Afterwards she would eventually take them to Needlepoint Meadow. It sounded easy, but Vidia spent extra time playing out everything in her head in great detail. She took into consideration a variety of possible likely complications and worked out ways around them. Vidia was certain she had anticipated everything and was very confident that by the evening she would be triumphant in her revenge while Tinker Bell would be left sobbing in the blasted remains of her little tinker house.

Vidia had wanted to put on something special for the occasion but it would give her away, so she settled on some clothes that were already worn and ripped. Then she went to the field where the thistles she wanted were resting. Vidia crept up on the weeds by hiding in the tall grass and stepping quietly to their resting spot. Both of the thistles she had chosen were settled snuggly into the dirt near each other and were replenishing their leaves with water and nutrients. Vidia expertly stalked the two and moved into the best position to capture both. That's when she bolted into the air and threw the rope over one and then quickly managed to lasso the second before both could wriggle free of the dirt and scamper away. Once out of the ground, however, the thistles charged through the grass with a reckless abandon and pulled Vidia behind them. The fast fairy began to use her winds to silently nudge the thistles to her bidding. At first the thistles seemed resistant to Vidia's commands, but soon began to follow her directions.

And so it began. She was "dragged" across fields and meadows; and through the forests and the warm seasons of Pixie Hollow. The weeds plowed through gardens, grasses and streams while darting around trees and over rocks. They scattered butterflies in Butterfly Cove; sent bunnies and squirrels scrambling for cover; frightened the skunks into spraying Fawn; chased Iridessa into a tree and trampled dozens of flowers much to Rosetta's horror. "Keep those weeds away from my flowers! You're a menace to all of Never Land," the garden talent screamed. Along the way Vidia could see other fairies and sparrow men watching and they began to point, laugh and whoop at her apparent misery.

_Laugh it up, fuzz brains,_ she sneered at them, _you'll be laughing me out of my punishment soon enough_.

When the thistles ran alongside one of the babbling brooks, Silvermist, the water talent fairy was water skating and saw the fast flyer's predicament. "Out for a brisk morning drag, Vidia?" she yelled out with a laugh. In response Vidia subtly directed a blast of wind that knocked Sil off balance and into the brook. Silvermist plowed face first into the water before going head over heels with a huge splash. The fast flyer looked over her shoulder and saw Silvermist sitting up in the shallow water fuming. Vidia laughed for a moment before changing disappearing into the nearby glade.

_Well that should be enough_. Vidia figured she had let herself be seen by plenty of fairies and sparrow men to appear more than credible in her alibi. So the fast flyer started to nudge and push the two sprinting thistles onto the path she had mentally mapped out, the one that led directly to the blind rise, the root and Tinker Bell's unprotected tinker made house. Vidia's gusts of wind carefully guided the two running weeds right up to the tree and her heart began to soar; everything was coming together just as she had planned. Vidia cried out as loud as she could, "Runaway thistles!" The weeds charged over the rise, jumped onto the root and towards the tinker fairy's house. She glanced over her left shoulder and there was Tinker Bell who was turning to look towards the commotion. To Vidia, the horrified look on the little tinker's face was, indeed, "absolutely priceless."

_This is gonna be good_, Vidia said congratulating herself.

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Tinker Bell was hovering in the courtyard of Tinker's Nook speaking with Clank and Bobble when Terence approached.

"Hey, Tink," the dust talent greeted with a cheery smile; "Fairy Gary wants to know if you could help him with a project."

"What is it, Terence?" she asked him with a coy smile of her own.

"Well, he was really impressed with how your designs helped speed up production for spring and he wants to know if you could do something like that for us at the Pixie Dust Depot."

"That's quite a tall order," Bobble exclaimed.

"What is it that he wants done?" Clank asked.

Tinker Bell didn't say a word as she was already deep in thought. She had been at the depot a few times and had already been thinking about how to improve the facility. Nothing serious, but her mind just worked like that. She would look at something and would invariably ask herself, _how could this be better? How can I make this faster or more efficient? _Now here was Terence, her best friend in all of Pixie Hollow, asking her to do just that. _Flitterific_, she thought. She started going through her ideas when Tink heard something behind her. It was Vidia's voice screaming out, "Runaway thistles!" Tinker Bell turned around and saw two sprinting thistles come over the rise and jump onto the root where her house sat. They had been roped and were pulling Vidia along behind them.

As Tinker Bell's eyes widened with growing terror she cried out, "MY HOUSE! LOOK OUT FOR MY HOUSE!" She took off trying to protect her cottage, but it was too little too late.

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**Am I making Vidia too mean?** **Too heartless? Please let me know.  
**

**To I Luv Milarion and Black Cat: Your glowing reviews were most gratifying. I was so afraid that this story would end up lining bird cages. Thank you for your amazing support.**

**To I Luv Milarion: Wow! Those are some great ideas. A whole new story could be written just from that. I had been thinking of writing a follow up to _Vidia's Revenge_, but what I had developed thus far was rather lean. Your suggestions have set my imagination aflame and I would love to use some of your terrific suggestions in the next story. Thank you, once again.**

**Feedback is always appreciated and I extend my most heartfelt gratitude to all the readers of this story. You have made my day.  
**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Just as Vidia had planned, the thistles ran across the root at top speed falling into single file. When they came to Tinker Bell's house the first thistle tried to jump over it, but couldn't clear the large structure. Instead it landed on the roof and crashed right through. A sickening crunch sound could be heard throughout the nook as it did. The tinker house caved in and anything immediately underneath the thistle was crushed into splinters. The vines used to bind the walls split and snapped. The walls lost their structural integrity and burst outward. From above it almost looked like a flower springing open. The pumpkin top door was flung off its hinges and crashed into the stream that trickled through Tinker's Nook sending a towering spray of water into the air. The thistle continued and trampled the walls even further before descending the ground floor of Tinker's Nook.

The second one ran through the remains of Tinker Bell's cottage as the first was leaving it, breaking and scattering everything that was in its way. The oyster shell bed, sea shell chimney, maple seed ceiling fan, design table, chest of drawers were shoved over the side. Many of Tinker Bell's possessions: drawings, designs and tools that she had been accumulating were scattered across the floor of Tinker's Nook. Green colored objects were seen gently floating towards the earth. These were Tinker Bell's dresses which she had spent a good deal of time cutting and hemming herself. They were badly ripped and torn by the spiny thistles.

Vidia herself wanted to jump and clear the rubble, but it might make her look guilty. So she allowed herself to be dragged into the debris. After having been raked across everything Pixie Hollow had to offer this was fairy play. The last remnants of Tinker Bell's house and furnishings zipped passed the fast flyer. Something hit Vidia in the face, but a second later it was gone. A glimpse back told her what it was, a leaf with designs drawn on it. She could have sworn it read "Pixie Dust Express."

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Tinker Bell screamed so loudly it hurt the ears of Terence who was close by. Her home had been obliterated in a blink of an eye. The last bits and pieces that had not fallen were clearly visible sitting on the home's foundation. Even as the weeds continued to run through the nook's housing district she wanted to rush to what was left of her cottage but Terence forcefully stopped her.

"Tink, wait!" he called, grabbing her arm tightly. "It's too dangerous with the thistles still here; wait for them to leave."

The pair watched as the sprinting weeds continued their stampede with Vidia still helplessly being pulled behind them. Several tinker fairies who were watching gasped, groaned or yelped as their homes were partly or heavily damaged. Tinker Bell's eyes were streaming tears as she kept watch over what little remained of her once beautiful home. She had taken so much care to decorate it and make it her own, adding personal touches and carefully adding lost things to make it feel as warm and comfortable as possible. Now it was gone, reduced to so much broken rubble.

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Vidia heard screaming and while it was hard to see who it was the voice was unmistakable, Tinker Bell. The fast flyer kept feigning her lack of control over the weeds as they continued to charge through Tinker's Nook. The weeds' sharp, spiny leaves ripped the door off of one house and left gaping holes in the walls of several more. The roots on which the houses sat were scratched and scraped as the thistles ran past and their spiny leaves cut into the bark.

At first Vidia was very pleased with herself. Tinker Bell's house had been razed, a few houses took some damage and no one suspected her subversion. But as she kept subtly driving the two thistles through the root laden, maze like housing section and towards her planned exit they became less responsive to her commands. Vidia's smugness quickly gave way to worry. _Oh no, they're trying to get out and can't, they must be getting too scared to control_, she correctly surmised. It had been less than a minute since arriving in Tinker's Nook and her grand design was collapsing on itself.

She had not anticipated this and her worry turned to outright panic. Everywhere she looked there were huge roots, towering walls and other obstacles in her way. The thistles constantly made sharp cuts and turns at a frightening pace that made it impossible for Vidia to think straight. She lost all hope of regaining control. What she needed were wide open spaces and plenty of time to regain sway over the thistles. She had neither in the tight, confined spaces of Tinker's Nook and its housing district. The weeds would cut and turn following the roots and walls looking for a way out. Then they would run into dead ends and would try to climb their way out up sheer walls that were too high. When they could not the thistles would quickly reverse course and the fast flyer would be mercilessly jerked in the new direction, bouncing off the walls and roots and tumbling over the ground. She was not even able to right herself much less the weeds. Vidia screeched, she called for help, cursed the thistles and yelped and cried with every stomach churning turn. It was a thrill ride turned dangerously real. This morning Vidia thought she had prepared for every possible contingency, how wrong she had been.

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**My thanks to the growing readership base for this story. It is more than I ever expected. **

**And my thanks to Starsights for your kinds words, they are greatly appreciated.**

**To I Luv Milarion, your new suggestions are very interesting. I don't think I can use Clarion's and Milori's back story since it would probably contradict ****_Secret of the Wings_****. (Don't get me wrong, though. I'm as big a fan of Clarion and Milori as anyone). However, the idea that Vidia would be humbled through heartbreak is a very good one that could be a very nice focus for the follow up. You have a wonderfully creative mind. Thank you.**


	5. Chapter 5

**My thanks to I Luv Milarion for pointing out a small, but glaring plot hole which I addressed in the first paragraph of this chapter.**

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Chapter 5

The tinker fairies and sparrow men were left temporarily stunned by the total destruction of Tinker Bell's cottage. When the thistles tore up the other houses the feeling of paralysis only deepened. But when Vidia started screaming for help some of the tinkers looked at each other unsure of what to do. Thistles had never been in Tinker's Nook before and not one fairy had any idea of how to respond.

Finally someone decided to try something, good or bad. "Let go!" someone yelled. "Vidia, let go!"

_I can't let go, I need to get these lousy weeds out of here_, Vidia sneered back in her thoughts.

Others began to follow and began to yell out to her, "Let go." The fast flyer held tight, her body bouncing and scraping across the ground. The more she got scraped up though the more she began to consider their advice.

The thistles somehow managed to work their way out of the housing district and turned into the courtyard where all the tinker made wares were stacked and ready for pickup and delivery. The tinker fairies, afraid for both Vidia and of losing so much hard work, descended and formed a makeshift barrier. They yelled and whooped and waved their arms and wings at the thistles trying to turn them. But the frightened weeds refused to cooperate and plowed straight into them. The tinker fairies scattered trying to avoid getting poked and scratched. Most escaped safely, a few like Clank, got scratched or cut up.

The rest of the tinker fairies who were watching in stunned paralysis finally reacted to the scene and tried to run or fly to safety. They ducked behind rocks, into the workshop or flew high above the fracas. Unfortunately, in their panicked flight no one remembered the mouse carts or the mice hitched to them. Cheese saw the thistles heading his way and bolted towards the exits, but his cart hit a bump and turned on its side, all the wares inside spilling out. As it dragged and bounced along behind him, it caught on something and his harness snapped allowing Cheese to escape unhindered. His friend, Cheddar, wasn't so lucky. Cheddar didn't move right away he was so scared.

The thistles barreled into the pickup area, plowing through the neat stacks of rainbow tubes, woven baskets, acorn bowls and other wares sending them flying high into the air where they landed all over and pelted the tinker fairies that could not shelter themselves from the fallout. Cheddar finally turned to run, but the thistles hit and overturned his cart along with the mouse. He lay on his back, his tiny mouse feet relentlessly pawing and grasping at the air trying to turn himself over. When the thistles hit Cheddar's cart they split and ran in opposite directions leaving Vidia speeding towards the mouse cart with one rope in each hand, the fast flyer about to be pulled in half by the running weeds.

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Terence saw the thistles running into the courtyard and immediately recognized that they were about to crash into the stacked wares.

"Fly, FLY!" he yelled at Tink, but she was too dumbstruck by the loss of her house to hear him. She had remained airborne the whole time, her wings flitting without thought, so he pushed her towards the nearest thing he could find, a rock platform jutting out from the nook's wall face.

Tink finally started to register what was happening. "What? What?!" The thistles hit the stacked wares and launched them high into the air. Once reaching their apex the flying bowls and other objects began to descend, falling all around the courtyard. Some began to drop onto Tink and Terence.

"Get down," Terence yelled. He pushed Tink onto the rock and into a crouching position against the wall face. An acorn bowl fell right at them. Terence put his arm up to block it, but instead somehow managed to catch it. Thinking quickly he put it on Tink's head. He crouched next to her, putting his body between hers and the rest of the falling debris, using himself as a shield. He wrapped one arm around her and put the other over his head. He could feel several items strike his back and head as they dropped back to earth. "Stay down," was all managed to say. Terence could feel Tink's body shaking in fear and shock. But at the moment there was nothing else he could do to help her.

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Staring down the overturned mouse cart Vidia let go of the thistle to her right. She was instantly yanked to the left. The thistle she still held on to was running headlong into a wall before it suddenly turned back towards the housing district. Vidia's momentum caused her to swing around in a wide arc and she found herself racing towards the same wall the thistle had just avoided. The fast flyer had no choice but to release the second thistle. She was flung backwards where the fairy hit the ground hard and then rolled into the wall with a sickening thud. She ended up laying face down motionless and gasping for breath for several seconds, the wind having been knocked out of her.

The first thistle had run straight out of Tinker's Nook, but the second was about to go back into the housing area and cause even more damage unless someone did something fast.

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**Sorry this one took so long. I had written it and then decided it wasn't very good so I had to rewrite it entirely adding the suggestion by I Luv Milarion. **

**Wow, double digit views and reviews, I feel humbled and honored to have this kind of fan base so quickly. Thanks for your gracious and continued support and I'll try to get the next chapter up soon.**

**Author's Note: The mouse, Cheddar, is an original character.**


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

"The thistle, it's heading back to our homes," Clank exclaimed.

"Somebody's got to do something," Bobble replied.

"Tinker fairies, grab the rope and slow it down," Fairy Mary yelled out.

Several tinkers gave chase and took hold of the rope. They pulled backwards, but to no avail. The thistle began to run up the twisting, winding road that went into the housing district. The road zig zagged between the roots of the trees that sat on opposite sides of Tinker's Nook. The tall roots and sheer walls could easily make the road look or feel like a maze to anyone or anything that could not fly.

"It's not working," someone yelled. Then Bobble had an idea. He saw the strewn and broken tinker wares scattered everywhere and called out to his friend. "Splinters! Clankie, grab some of these cracked acorn cups and follow me."

Clank scooped up as many as he could and followed Bobble who also had an armful. They flew out in front of the runaway thistle and started yelling at it. "Back, back ye menace," Bobble cried out as he started flinging acorn cups at it. Clank followed his friend's lead and threw his broken wares at the weed one at a time yelling, "Get out of here." The thistle bobbed and weaved to avoid being hit. The idea indeed had merit, but the two friends were soon all out of ammo. Fortunately, several other tinkers did what Clank and Bobble had done and began to throw more of the broken items at the thistle.

The frightened weed started bouncing back and forth between two roots and a wall, penned in until finally it was able to run down and back out into the courtyard. More tinkers joined in flinging armloads of broken tinker made wares at the scampering flora as it darted around the yard trying to find a way out. Fairy Mary gained control of the flying mob and got them to start driving the thistle towards the exit. A moment later the thistle was running out of Tinker's Nook, the crisis had finally ended and the tinker fairies began to cheer.

* * *

When the tinkers cheered Terence looked up and saw that the last thistle was running down the road, safely out of Tinker's Nook. He said to Tinker Bell, "It's okay, now, you can get up."

She stood and saw the commotion below, then turned to the root and her house. It shocked her once again to see an empty space where her house stood only minutes ago. Her eyes went wide and her mouth fell agape. She put her hands to her face and shook her head in utter disbelief. She had seen it happen right in front of her, but still could not comprehend fully that her house had been totally destroyed.

Tinker Bell flittered slowly to the root where her proud home once stood. She floated over it and circled the damage stunned beyond all belief. She couldn't speak or make a sound it was so incredible and unreal. Tears welled up in her eyes as she took in the scene. Her personal items were scattered all around the root, on the ground and even into the trickling stream, most her broken or smashed to pieces. Slowly the loss began to sink in. This had been her home and her sanctuary; her entire private world was in there. Now it was no more.

"It's gone," she finally managed to squeak out. "It's all gone." Fear, horror, anxiety, pain, loss, despair and many, many other powerful emotions swirled inside her. Tinker Bell finally landed amidst the rubble trying to find something, anything she could salvage. A gentle breeze pushed a rolled leaf off the side of the root; it would have fallen had Terence not captured it.

He handed it back to Tinker Bell who took it and unrolled it. These were the designs for a boat she had dubbed The Pixie Dust Express. She clutched it so tightly to her chest the leaf almost tore apart. She started to cry. Terence landed next to her; for a moment he did nothing. Then he pulled her into a warm and comforting embrace. Initially Tinker Bell rejected it, but a second later put her arms around his body and bawled uncontrollably into his shoulder. She wept so hard that her knees failed her and the sparrow man had to hold onto her.

Terence felt her pain in his heart. It ached so badly because all he wanted at this moment was to be a tinker sparrow man so he could rebuild Tinker Bell's house for her. He was Tink's best friend and had been since they spoke at the pixie dust reservoir in the Pixie Dust Tree. When he got her to realize just how important her talent really was and to be proud of it. Tink's other friends all gave her the advice and support she wanted. Terence gave her the advice and support she needed and offered it in such a way that she would accept it because it came from her own lips, not someone else's.

While she cried he looked across the courtyard at Vidia and the crowd that was growing around her. He wanted to see if she was okay.

She was still lying on the ground and stayed there for several minutes. Fairy Mary ordered some of the tinkers to pick up the mess made by the thistles. "Let's go, we need to get this place in tip top shape for tomorrow's deliveries."

Then the fast flyer began to stir.

* * *

Vidia was still getting her breath back when she tried to stand up. It was a bad idea because she fell back to her hands and knees. Clank wrapped his beefy arms around Vidia's lean body and yanked her up to her feet much too quickly. She could barely stand when he let go of her. He kept Vidia upright until she could stand on her own. It was not a pleasant experience for the dark haired fairy. He was still sweaty and had an unpleasant odor about him. _Ugh, no wonder this place always smells bad._

"Are you well, Vidia?" Fairy Mary asked.

She grunted a reply which the tinker overseer took to mean "no."

"Just hang on," Fairy Mary said. A moment later Vidia finally got her breath back. It had been knocked out of her when she hit the wall and it had made her feel woozy. The fast flyer took in a couple deep breaths and stood firmly on her feet. Vidia nodded now, answering Fairy Mary's earlier question. Clank carefully let her go.

"What happened?" Fairy Mary asked.

"Aye, it looked like those two got the best of ya," Bobble added in his thick accent.

Vidia heard that and got angry inside. Nothing got the best of her, not even the sprinting thistles. She was the fastest fast flyer, the greatest talent Pixie Hollow had ever seen. Vidia refused to count Tinker Bell and her glowing hammer because she was just a lousy tinker fairy. No matter how angry she got inside, though, Vidia never let it show outside. "Um…, yeah. I guess that's what happened." She replied.

Vidia leaned up against the wall and grabbed her right side. That was the side where she hit the ground before rolling into the wall. It wasn't very painful anymore, but she was going to play the helpless victim to the hilt to avoid any suspicions. If Fairy Mary started chattering into the queen's ear about this who knew what Clarion might to do to the fast flyer. "Oh, that is really starting to hurt," she added for effect.

"You should see a healing fairy, Miss Vidia," Clank said.

"Did…, did anyone get hurt?" Vidia asked trying to sound sincere.

"We're okay, Vidia," Bobble answered. "But Tinker Bell's home is a total wreck."

Vidia turned her face to the wall and smiled a broad and satisfied smile. _Success_, she thought.

"You should go, dear," Fairy Mary insisted.

"Okay," Vidia answered wanting to get out of this lousy nook as soon as possible. But she wanted to add one more scene to her little play, something that would cement her as a pure innocent in the entire affair. "I want to…, to apologize to Tink."

"But it wasn't your fault," Fairy Mary said. "No one can control those weeds. You were lucky you didn't break a bone or lose a wing."

"I still feel responsible for it," Vidia grunted. So she walked across the courtyard, looking to all like a broken hero. Vidia could hear the gasps from the tinkers who watched. A few patted her gently on the back as she passed them by. Fairy Mary even fluttered over and helped Vidia across the yard to Tinker Bell's root. All the while the fast flyer grunted and groaned. She hobbled on her feet and held her right side and made sure to grimace here and there to keep up appearances.

They were all fooled by her act, and Vidia was absolutely certain she was going to get away with her retribution. The fast flyer may have lost control of the thistles in Tinker's Nook and she may have been tossed around pretty good, but it was all going to work out in her favor. All that was left was to see Tinker Bell's grief stricken face, to see her broken and crying. That would be the cherry on top. _And no one, not even the queen will ever know it wasn't an accident_.

* * *

**Once more my thanks to all who are continuing to read my little story. Special thanks to all who have posted reviews. To I Luv Milarion and CommonSwift: your regular feedback has been very encouraging, you have both been very gracious in your praise and very patient with me, thank you. **

**To I Luv Milarion: don't worry the queen will show up soon enough and she will have a very large part in the follow up story.**


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

"It'll be okay, Tink," Terence said trying to comfort the traumatized tinker fairy he called _friend_.

He paused as he held her tightly in his arms. "Y'know, it could have been much worse."

She was appalled at this statement. Her entire life had just been wiped out and he actually said _it could have been much worse. _

Tinker Bell pulled away from him, still sniffling and pouting. "How, Terence? Tell me how it could be any worse than this?" she said angrily in a raised, but still trembling voice.

Terence wiped the tears from her pretty little face and said, "If the thistles had arrived a few minutes earlier, or if you had stayed in your house a few minutes longer you would have been inside when they came crashing through the roof. You would have been killed and Pixie Hollow would have lost a great tinker fairy." In a quieter tone he added, "And I would have lost my very best friend."

These words struck her with stunning clarity and put into some perspective all that had just happened. It did not change how she felt nor did it lessen the blow of the total loss of her home. However, in the weeks to come this new perspective would make it easier for Tinker Bell to deal with this trauma. Terence gently wiped away more tears from her sweet, cherubic face. "Your house, all of your possessions, they're just things. They can be replaced, you can't," he said, emphasizing the last two words. "I don't…, I don't want to have to say 'goodbye' to you, Tinker Bell. Not now. Not ever."

After a moment's pause she smiled a bit through her pain and said to him in a slight, quivering voice, "Thanks, Terence; you're the best friend a fairy could ever have." She gave him a big hug in gratitude and Terence responded by giving her tender, friendly peck on her temples.

Tinker Bell slowly turned around and began to take an account of anything that might have survived the thistles. She sniffled and wiped away more tears. Tink began to shiver from the severe emotional stress. So much so in fact that she wrapped herself in her arms.

"Oh, here." Terence took off his dark brown vest and put it around Tink's shoulders like a shawl. She turned and smiled at him. "You look good in it," he said. "You would have made a great dust keeper."

Tink laughed just a bit, even as water kept streaming down her face. "Well, at least then my house would still be intact," she said, implying that her house would be with the dust keepers instead of here where the thistles had just run it down.

"Hey, here's something," he said reaching down. It was Tink's sharp thingy, a wooden peg set inside a slender shell. It was one of the tools she used when working on projects in her home. "It looks like it's still in good shape."

"Yeah, yeah, it does." She smiled again. Terence smiled back; he was finally making a difference in her life at this awful moment. He began to feel something stirring in his chest, in his heart actually. Could it be…, love? Or was it just an intense reaction to the thought that he might have lost his best friend?

* * *

"Tink?" A woman's smoky voice called out. "Tinker Bell?" It was Vidia. She and several tinker fairies had gathered at the base of the root where Tink's house once stood. Vidia was still holding onto her right side and her face grimaced in make believe pain.

The little tinker fairy, now wrapped in Terence's vest, looked down and saw the fast flyer calling out to her.

"Look…, um," Vidia began, acting as though she were unsure what to say next. Vidia knew exactly what she wanted to say. _This is what you get for keeping me on the mainland and making me chase those lousy thistles._ But it would blow her cover story so she went with something she made up on the way over to the root. "I'm sorry. I was taking those thistles to Needlepoint Meadow and I lost control of them. I tried to slow them down. I…I tried to get them back under control, but I couldn't. It's my fault you lost your house." She paused for a moment. Tink flitted down and landed right in front of Vidia.

"Can you ever forgive me?" Vidia said with so much mock sweetness and regret she wanted to throw up.

The tears kept streaming down Tinker Bell's cheeks. Vidia loved seeing every drop, her victory seemed complete.

But then the little tinker fairy did something Vidia had not expected. "Are you okay, Vidia?" she asked.

The fast flyer was so taken aback by Tinker Bell's concern that she fumbled her reply. "Bu-but, your house? It's gone. Aren't you mad? Aren't you…,"

"It's just a house, Vidia, I can replace it," Tinker Bell said sounding philosophical. "Terence reminded me just how unimportant possessions are when compared to our lives. As long you are okay then nothing else matters."

Vidia glared angrily at the dust keeper who was still standing on the root. It had only been a second, but her brief loss of composure could have easily been her undoing. When Vidia looked back down at Tinker Bell she caught a glimpse of Fairy Mary. Her look of grave concern was gone and instead there was only suspicion. The fast flyer decided to make a hasty exit before Fairy Mary had a chance to really think about what happened and started asking questions.

"I had better get to a healing talent," Vidia said trying to flutter away.

"Wait," Tinker Bell said. "I forgive you, Vidia. I know it wasn't your fault."

Tinker Bell's forgiveness didn't matter now; Fairy Mary was looking at Vidia with an icy stare that suggested she was piecing things together. _Oh great, she'll start whispering to the queen. I better get out of her quick. _

Vidia was certain she could still get away with it; there wasn't enough evidence to prove that it wasn't an accident, but she didn't need suspicions hanging over her head. This was supposed to be a clean operation and it was getting dirty real fast.

Tinker Bell, though, wouldn't stop talking. "I'll come and visit you later to see how you're doing," she said.

_Ugh, how cloyingly sweet can you be?_ Vidia thought to herself. "Uh, yeah. I'll look forward to it."

Vidia turned to fly away when Fairy Mary spoke up. "You're not going to thank her? She did forgive you after all."

_Oh just shut up, already_, she mentally sneered at the tinker overseer. Vidia turned back towards the little tinker fairy. "Thanks, Tinker Bell. I…I, don't really know what to say."

"It's okay, Vidia. Now why don't you go on and see that healing talent," Tinker Bell said with a caring, concerned look on her face.

"Yeah, I better go." Vidia once again turned to fly away, but just as her feet were about leave the ground she heard Silvermist's voice calling out to her.

"There you are, Vidia," the water talent bellowed angrily.

_Oh no, now what?_

"I have a sharp thingy to pick with you." Silvermist was fluttering into Tinker's Nook when she turned around and yelled back to someone. She was motioning with one arm while pointing at Vidia with the other. "Here she is, Rosetta. In Tinker's Nook right where Lockheed said she would be."

Silvermist, Rosetta and the fast flyer Lockheed, all set down just a few steps away from Vidia. Sil and Ro looked quite upset. Lockheed on the other hand just kept an eye on her, a stoic look on his face.

"Um…, I need to see a healing talent, so, goodbye," Vidia said trying desperately to extricate herself from this bad situation.

"Not so fast," Lockheed said in his baritone voice, "there is the matter of your knocking over Sil in the stream, trampling Rosetta's flowers and bringing the thistles to Tinker's Nook."

There was murmuring in the crowd as everyone began processing what they had just heard.

"Did you say she brought them here?" Fairy Mary asked.

"Possibly," he said.

Vidia gulped hard; suddenly her victory was fading, and fast.

* * *

**Author's Note: The fast flyer of Lockheed is one of my original characters. He is named after the Lockheed Corporation (now Lockheed Martin), an aerospace company that designs and builds aircraft.**

**Once again I want to offer my gratitude to all of the dedicated readers of ****_Vidia's Revenge_****. Your continued support fills my heart with warmth and love.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Whew! This chapter is finally available. **

**Sorry it took so long. Thursday and Friday were busy and exhausting. This chapter also proved far more challenging to write than I had anticipated. Several characters, lots of dialogue, some verbal sparring and an impromptu courtroom drama. About the only thing missing is the signature "donk - donk" sound from ****_Law and Order_****.**

* * *

Chapter 8

Terence watched from the root and was proud of his friend. Tinker Bell could be very temperamental and hot headed (the great ones usually are). Even the smallest setback in a project could send her into a deep depression or turn her into a raving lunatic. Ever since the two became friends he made a point to learn her moods, body language, facial expressions and Tink's emotional responses to difficult and challenging situations.

He cared deeply for Tinker Bell and was concerned for her mental health and stability. Terence had set out to predict how she would react to any given stimulus. Tink's hyper reactions could hurt someone, crash a project or end a friendship. So Terence decided to be proactive in his responses to keep her from flying off the handle. Along those lines he began to experiment with and catalog all the right things to say and do in a given situation which would calm her down and get her back to being loveable ol' Tink again. Bolt at the Pixie Dust Depot even started referring to him as Pixie Hollow's resident "Tinker Bell wrangler" because he was getting so good at it. Terence held no illusions, though; he still had a long way to go when it came to managing her wild mood swings.

However, at this moment he didn't have to worry, Tinker Bell was handling Vidia's apology like a champ. No screaming, no pouting, no finger pointing; not even the slightest hint of red in her cheeks. _Maybe this will have a positive effect on her_, he thought. _If Tink can learn to keep things in perspective she won't have a fit every time something goes wrong._

When Silvermist, Rosetta and Lockheed arrived and implied that Vidia might have brought the thistles here on purpose, it didn't require a talent in problem solving to figure out a possible motive. Terence became very worried and decided to flit down to where his friend was standing to help keep her calm.

He sighed on his way down, _Tink might learn perspective, but it wouldn't be today_.

* * *

"Did you say she brought them here?" Fairy Mary asked when Lockheed suggested that Vidia may have brought the thistles to Tinker's Nook on purpose.

"Possibly," he said.

"Wait. What?" Tinker Bell sputtered, sounding quite confused and with good reason. She was still trying to process the traumatic loss of her home and possessions. Terence landed next to her and placed a caring, reassuring hand on her shoulder.

"She also knocked me into the water," Silvermist charged.

"And she tore up one of my flower gardens," Rosetta added.

"Wait, what happened here?" Sil asked. When she had fluttered down into Tinker's Nook Silvermist had been so focused on Vidia that she did not initially notice all the damage and debris. Now it was all beginning to consciously register with her. Upon hearing the water talent's observation, Rosetta took in the scene as well.

"Did the thistles do all this?" the garden fairy asked.

"Yes, they did." Fairy Mary answered. "And they demolished Tinker Bell's cottage, too."

Neither fairy had been in Tinker's Nook since Tinker Bell had arrived so they did not know where it had been or what it looked like. Rosetta saw tinker cottages in the housing district with gaping holes in their walls and assumed she lived in one of those.

"Which one is your house, Tinker Bell?" Rosetta asked.

"It was sitting on this root," she said pointing to the empty space right above them.

"There's nothin' there, sweetheart," Rosetta helpfully pointed out.

Tink choked back an urge to start crying again. "Because that's all that's left of it: nothing."

Rosetta and Silvermist stared briefly at each other in stunned disbelief. Then both glanced back and forth between the houses in the district and the open space on the root as each created a mental image of what Tink's house may have looked like. Psychologically it gave the water and garden talent fairies a stronger visual and emotional connection that allowed them to sympathize more with their tinker fairy friend.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, Tink," Silvermist told her while giving Tinker Bell a comforting hug. "Did the thistles do all of that?"

"Yeah, yeah they did."

"Oh now don't you worry about a thing," Rosetta said in reassuring tones. "These tinkers will build you new and better home in no time."

"Aye, that we will," Bobble said.

"And you can stay with me until they're finished," Rosetta added.

Tinker Bell smiled again. "Thanks, guys."

That's when the tinker fairy took a good look at Silvermist. "Sil, what happened to your face? It looks all red and kind of swollen."

Silvermist had been so distracted by what had happened to Tink's home, and the deep feelings of pain and sorry she felt for her friend that she had forgotten why she had come to Tinker's Nook in the first place. Tinker Bell's observation reminded her and Sil's anger boiled up again.

"Yeah, that's what happens when you go water skating…, _face first_." Sil glared at Vidia when she spoke those last two words.

"Hey, it's not my fault if you're clumsy," Vidia responded with a snippy tone.

"Clumsy? You sent me crashing into the brook with one of your wind bursts. I had to wait for my wings to dry out before I could do anything else today."

"Sorry, dearie, but I was busy at the time…, _with those thistles_," Vidia replied with a sneer.

"Oh no, you don't. You're not getting off that easy," Sil continued, even more upset than before. "I saw you running with those weeds and if you could knock my legs out from under me with your winds then you certainly weren't all that occupied by them."

"I don't know what you're talking about, Silvermist," Vidia replied smugly, "Like I said, I was otherwise engaged with the thistles. I had lost control of them before I had ever reached the brook and I couldn't do anything else because I was so focused on trying to get back the reigns. Just ask Rosetta here. She's always saying that there isn't a garden fairy alive that can control those things. Isn't that right, Rosetta?"

"You're right, but they _can_ be coaxed for a while," she said. "Or did you forget that I'm a _garden fairy_ and we know more about the thistles than any other talent in Pixie Hollow?"

"Hmmph, you just said they couldn't be controlled and then you told us you're an authority on the subject. Sounds like I've got all the evidence I need to prove my innocence." Vidia huffed, crossed her arms across her chest and then turned her back to the pair, noticeably not appearing to be hurt or injured anymore.

* * *

When Fairy Mary saw Vidia acting just fine all sympathy she had for the fast flyer evaporated. While the girls argued Mary began to scrutinize the incident and when she did several tiny, but very unsettling details began to emerge. She kept her mouth shut, not wanting to say anything unfounded. Instead, she kept listening to the conversation, gleaning out any new evidence.

"Oh really? Vidia, how many thistles have you returned to Needlepoint meadow?" Rosetta asked.

"A little more than half. Why?"

"And how did you get all those thistles back there? Was it by chance? Or did they just suddenly change their minds and decide to go home? You coaxed them along with your talent, is what you did," Rosetta said, tearing into Vidia's defense.

Vidia just grunted, unwilling to engage Rosetta any further at this moment.

"When I first arrived in Pixie Hollow I wanted to impress the other garden fairies, so I tried to tame those weeds, the same way humans tame dogs and cats. I spent decades watchin' and learnin' all I could, tryin' everything to bring those weeds under control. I even tried to gettin' inside their heads, but nothin' worked"

"Sounds like you're building an airtight case for me, Rosetta. Thanks," Vidia said.

"It may sound like it, but I ain't. Do you know why? Because in all that time I also learned quite a few things about 'em. First, you can coax them along for a while, like you have, Vidia, in gettin' some back to Needlepoint Meadow. Second, I know they prefer to run along the easiest path, usually in straight lines. They don't like things getting' in their way. And lastly, they hate big crowds of fairies; it scares 'em. Thistles prefer to be left alone so they can grow and run wild wherever they want."

"What's your point, Rosetta?" Fairy Mary asked.

"My point is that I saw Vidia coaxin' those weeds along when she came through my gardens. First they ran into my flower bed rather than goin' around. A stampede would have run through, but there was only two 'em and in small numbers they prefer to avoid what's in their way. Second, instead of runnin' in a straight line they ran all over, tramplin' and stompin' everythin' under foot."

"Well maybe you don't know thistles like you think you do, Rosetta," Vidia sneered, obviously contradicting herself.

"Oh, and then I followed Vidia around for a while."

"You what?!" Vidia barked, stunned by Rosetta's admission.

"She ran those weeds right into parts of Pixie Hollow with lots of fairies. Thistles would never do that on their own, they would need someone to drive them. Sort of like what happened to Tink the day before we took spring to the mainland."

"It almost sounds like she wanted to be seen," Lockheed concluded.

"One more thing, I got a good look at her face when she trampled my flowers and Vidia never once looked like she was frightened or upset. In fact, it seemed like she was enjoyin' herself."

"That's not true," Vidia shouted back. "I didn't look scared because I was trying very hard to get those things under my control again. And I have had _plenty_ of practice doing that these past few weeks."

"Then why did it take you so long this time, Vidia?" Lockheed asked. Vidia instantly realized that she had just walked right into one of Lockheed's little verbal traps.

_Stupid, Cricket, why can't you just leave me alone._

Of all the fast flyers in her guild, Lockheed was the one she hated most. He was assigned the task of being her guild mentor, but he quickly took it upon himself to act as her conscience, too. When the story of _Pinocchio_ made its way to the shores of Pixie Hollow she started to call him "Cricket," after the little bug that tried to warn the puppet boy about the pitfalls of doing wrong. Like that little bug, Lockheed just wouldn't go away.

He was tall, lean and had pretty boy good looks. Lockheed was considered quite the catch in some circles, but Vidia would have none of it. She was determined to keep this twit at arm's length, or further.

"They were particularly nasty thistles," Vidia replied.

"Really? Because on the way over I saw Fawn and Buck driving those particular thistles back towards the grassy meadow where they like to sit and feed," Lockheed told her.

"Well…," briefly Vidia was at a loss for words. "I…, I must have…, well I must have…run them to exhaustion trying to…."

"You 'ran them to exhaustion?'" Lockheed asked. "You mean on purpose?"

"No, they ran _themselves_ to exhaustion!" she railed back. "Don't try to put words in my mouth."

Lockheed could see Vidia's resolve beginning to crack under the strain of this questioning and pressed onward with a new indictment. "And then there is the matter of where you were going so early every morning these past several days," he said keeping Vidia on her heels.

"And how would you know?! I don't even live with the other fast flyers!" Vidia roared back.

"True, but when one of our own wakes even before the dust keepers, it raises some questions. Some of the dust talents saw you early in the morning a couple of times when they were flying to the Pixie Dust Depot to begin their morning shifts. They thought it was very strange and asked us about it."

"Well, it's none of your business, Lockheed," she screamed. "Now butt out!"

"I just want to know why you were up so early in the morning. It's not like you."

"Why should it matter to you, anyway?!" Vidia said in a strong and defensive tone.

"Were you doing something you shouldn't?"

"NO!" she yelled back.

"Okay, then." Lockheed seemed to relent, but then added something more. "Oh, one more thing, the dust keepers said they saw you flying in this general direction."

"Towards Tinker's Nook?" Fairy Mary asked. "We never saw her here."

"Because I was never here," Vidia countered. "There is more to Pixie Hollow out this way than just this stinking hole in the ground."

Fairy Mary was insulted and incensed by Vidia's declaration that Tinker's Nook was just a "stinking hole in the ground." She was so deeply wounded that Fairy Mary finally broke her silence. "You don't look like you're hurt anymore, Vidia."

"What? Oh, uh, the pain seems to have gone away. I guess I wasn't as hurt as I thought I was. Lucky me."

"Yes, I'm sure you were very lucky," the tinker supervisor said with a knowing stare. Fairy Mary had heard plenty. Analyzing what she heard and surveyed, and assuming that Vidia had a reason to bring the thistles to Tinker's Nook, she had puzzled out a very reasonable conclusion. Now she proceeded to inform everyone of it.

"It seems to me that the only house in Tinker's Nook that was completely destroyed was Tinker Bell's," she correctly observed. "And the thistles came into the nook by the only way a thistle could to get to her house, over that rise by the tree. They certainly could not have climbed the root to get to it. A thistle can't do that. Isn't that right, Rosetta?"

"That's right, Fairy Mary."

Vidia's confidence melted and was replaced by surprise.

"Rosetta, wouldn't you also say that it was highly unlikely that thistles would run over that rise, around the tree and down the root on their own?"

"Virtually impossible, Fairy Mary. The tree, the drop and the root are all things thistles would choose to avoid."

Vidia now felt worry, nervousness and anxiety. _How could she know?_

"Interesting. Vidia, you do have a rather unfriendly history with Tinker Bell and Queen Clarion has punished you severely for what you did to her at springtime. I'd say that would be more than enough reason to take action against Tinker Bell. And both Rosetta and Silvermist were highly critical of what you did to Tinker Bell, which may explain why you chose to seek them out."

Tinker Bell couldn't believe all that she was hearing. "You brought them here on purpose, Vidia?"

"No, I didn't. I told you it was an accident," Vidia replied nervously. "They can't prove anything!"

"You got up extra early for days and came over here, for what?" Tink's voice grew louder as she continued to review all the indictments against Vidia. "Then you hurt my friends, came over that rise, broke my house and did all of this."

"I told you it wasn't on purpose, I lost all control and…, and…."

"And what? Look what you did to my house, Vidia!" Tinker Bell yelled.

"Calm down, Tink," Terence said, he put both of his hands on her shoulders in an effort to keep Tinker Bell from getting too angry. But instead she reacted by throwing off his vest and stepping closer to Vidia, her brow furrowed, eyes narrowing and lips curling into a decidedly angry frown.

"It wasn't my fault, Tinker Bell," Vidia said in a defensive voice.

"I could have been killed!" Tinker Bell replied, screaming.

"No, you wouldn't have!"

"Look at the root, Vidia! There's nothing left. If I had been in there when you brought the thistles I would have been crushed. Killed!"

"You never would have been killed, Tinker Bell!"

"And how would you know?!"

"Because I timed it just right so you could see your house get blown up, that's why!" Vidia yelled back.

Everyone gasped in absolute stunned horror at this confession.

_Oh no, not again._ Vidia slapped her hands over her mouth. She was incredulous that she had been lead to incriminate herself a second time.

It was her ego that had done her in. Like all narcissists Vidia wasn't satisfied being better than everyone else. She needed others to accept that fact, as well. Vidia had superior talent, intelligence, cunning and craftiness; but from her vantage point she was constantly surrounded by fairies that were too small minded to appreciate those qualities. So just as before Vidia was pushed hard enough to reveal her actions and intent in a moment of pique. They had questioned her superiority and it frustrated her to an explosive end.

"That's why you came here every morning," Fairy Mary said, putting the last piece of the puzzle together. "So you could watch Tinker Bell's movements and know when to bring in the thistles."

"Why?" Tinker Bell asked, her face turning red with anger.

Enraged that she had been goaded into revealing her well laid plans Vidia abandoned all pretense and told the little tinker fairy everything. "Because I wanted to get back at you for making me capture the thistles! That's why!"

"The queen will hear of this," Fairy Mary stated waggling her finger at Vidia.

"Yeah, you go ahead and tell her," Vidia spat. "What's she gonna do? Make me capture _more_ thistles?"

Vidia then heard a low, but growing guttural sound. It was coming from Tinker Bell who was turning darker shades of red.

"Oh, and what are going to do about it, Tinker Bell?" Vidia sneered. "Run down my house with the thistles? I live in a tree trunk. You can't touch my home."

That did it, Tinker Bell lunged at Vidia who leapt into the air and flew off, laughing at the blonde pixie. But the little tinker fairy wasn't going to sit still for this. Even as her friends and supervisor kept calling for her to remain calm and let the queen handle this, Tinker Bell charged off after Vidia, giving chase through the woods. This took Vidia by surprise who hadn't realized just how furious she had made the tinker fairy.

"Whoa! She's mad." Vidia sped away hoping to lose the tinker fairy in the trees, but then decided otherwise. In spite of the fact that she had accomplished all she had set out to do, her victory seemed decidedly hollow. Whether Vidia knew it or not, her one, underlying motivation in everything she had done against Tinker Bell was to break the tinker fairy's spirit. To keep that little tinker fairy in line so that Vidia could always claim to be the best and most talented fairy in all of Pixie Hollow.

Flying though the forests of spring Vidia set about to enact a new plan, one that would give her the satisfaction she so desperately craved. She knew just the place to do it, too: an old tree trunk in the Autumn Forest. Now Vidia just had to lure Tinker Bell into the new trap.

* * *

**I hope this chapter was up to the high standards everyone has come to expect.**

**Chapter 9 should be available by tomorrow or Monday at the latest.**

**Thanks to all of my wonderful and loyal readers for their graciousness and patience.**


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

"Don't just float there, go after her," Fairy Mary cried out.

Terence, Silvermist, Rosetta, Clank and Bobble all flew out of Tinker's Nook trying to chase down Tinker Bell and Vidia. They were surprised at just how angry Tink looked when she launched after the fast flyer. Lockheed, on the other hand, just stood there shaking his head.

"Why aren't you going?" Fairy Mary asked. "You're a fast flyer. You can catch Vidia."

"No, I can't," he said. "She is faster than any fairy in our talent guild. Than any fairy in Pixie Hollow, for that matter. Only Wisp comes closest."

"Well then stop Tinker Bell," she said.

But Lockheed could only sit and put his head in his hands.

"What's wrong with you? Why aren't you even trying to stop this nonsense?"

He shrugged his shoulders and with a resigned look on his face said, "It won't do any good. Vidia has changed for the worse over the decades and nothing I will ever do is going to stop it."

"So you're just giving up on her?"

"I gave up long ago," Lockheed said.

Fairy Mary saw something in his countenance that filled in all the blanks. "You're in love with her, aren't you?"

"Is it that obvious?"

"As the wings on your back."

He took in a deep breath and let it out in a mournful sigh. "I had a crush on who Vidia used to be: a bold, brash, highly talented fast flyer with greatness at her wingtips. I have no idea who that fairy is anymore."

"Then why do you still care enough to intervene?"

"I don't. Our guild supervisor, Fairy Kelly, insists I keep her out of trouble." He chortled, "Kelly would need an entire talent guild just to keep that insane ego in check."

"Well this is a fine how-do-you-do, Lockheed. You can help reform her, bring her back, but you've already written her off."

"The queen can do it, but she seems to go far too easy on Vidia. Maybe if Clarion didn't coddle her so much Vidia would-,"

"That's enough out of you," Fairy Mary scolded him. "The queen is very wise and highly knowledgeable. More than you'll ever be and it's hardly your place to question how she manages one of her own."

Lockheed glared at Fairy Mary. He then flitted off, back to wherever he came from.

Fairy Mary shook her head and sighed. "Hard-headedness must run in that guild like a bad case of the fairy pox."

The tinker supervisor turned to face her charges. "Alright everyone listen here. If anyone has damage to their house, pick a helper and start repairs immediately. The rest of you keep cleaning up the area. If any of our wares are still in good order stack them for delivery. I'll be right back."

Fairy Mary then lit off towards the Pixie Dust Tree and Her Majesty the Queen, who would no doubt be highly displeased by this news.

* * *

"Tink! Tinker Bell," Terence called out. "Stop! Don't do this, you'll regret it."

The others who flew with him also tried to call her back, but to no avail. Tinker Bell had a huge head start on them and she was flying faster than she ever had before. Her anger drove the beating of her wings as she tried to keep up with Vidia.

* * *

Vidia could have easily out flown Tinker Bell, but instead she kept just ahead of the tinker fairy. The purple clad flyer made hard turns, zipped through the foliage and feigned evasive maneuvers. Vidia led Tinker Bell into the Autumn Forest where she used her winds to blow leaves off the trees and into a swirling trail that obscured Tink's view of her. The flyer managed the leaf count so the tinker could follow, but not see where she was being lead.

* * *

Tinker Bell became even more furious as the leaves constantly impeded her progress towards Vidia, the destroyer of her home. She growled and cursed, but still plowed full speed through the flurry of red, yellow and brown foliage. Tink could feel the strain in her wing muscles as she beat her wings harder and faster than ever before. They hurt and would start to cramp up if she didn't stop soon, but her outrage towards Vidia wouldn't allow it. She would fall out of the air before willingly give up this chase. Vidia had willfully destroyed her home in an act of malicious vengeance and Tinker Bell was going to teach that fast flyer a lesson she wouldn't soon forget.

* * *

"Where did they go?" Terence asked his companions.

"I haven't the foggiest," Bobble answered.

Rosetta flew up a little higher for a better view. She spied leaves in the Autumn Forest fluttering to the ground. "Over there," she cried out to them. "That must be them."

The rest flew in the direction she pointed while Rosetta descended to rejoin them. A few trees into the forest, though, and they lost the trail. Vidia had flown into the boughs and branches to further confuse Tinker Bell and it had done an even better job of confusing the pursuing party.

"Now where did they go?" Terence asked.

Rosetta would occasionally see leaves fluttering to the ground and they would go off in that direction before losing the trail again. It was frustrating for the group as they made progress in fits and spurts.

"Oh, I just hope we get there in time before anything bad happens," Silvermist offered.

"Miss Vidia can out fly anyone," Bobble said.

"Yeah, but it sure didn't look like she was tryin' to last I saw 'em," Rosetta informed everyone. "I think she's gonna do somethin' awful to poor Tinker Bell."

"Or Tinker Bell will do something awful to Vidia if she catches her," Terence replied.

"Oh, no, we lost the trial again," Silvermist advised.

"Well keep looking for fallin' leaves; it's the only way we can find 'em," Rosetta ordered.

* * *

Fairy Mary landed at the entrance to the Queen's audience chamber. She strode in and saw a familiar face. "Queen Clarion, your highness."

"Yes, Fairy Mary, what is it?" The queen was enjoying a cup of tea with the ministers. They had been sharing a laugh about something, which made the tinker supervisor's news all the more difficult to deliver.

"Vidia has committed a dreadful act against Tinker Bell and Tinker's Nook."

The queen rolled her eyes with knowing apprehension. "What did she do this time?"

"She commanded two thistles across Pixie Hollow, assaulted several fairies with them and then…, and then purposefully drove them directly into Tinker's Nook where they completely destroyed Tinker Bell's house and damaged several others."

When she heard the news the queen was livid and utterly appalled. "Tell me everything," she demanded.

* * *

Vidia had the old tree trunk in sight. Tinker Bell was close behind and clearly angling for a confrontation. So was Vidia, but on her own terms. _That's right tinker fairy, stay right on my tail. Just a few more seconds and you'll be all mine._

The fast flyer drew more leaves into her swirl and it made Tinker Bell even angrier than before. It obscured Vidia's target so well that all Vidia had to do was fly right into the half fallen tree. No special maneuvers, no approach from an obscuring angle, just a straight forward approach. Moments later Vidia winged straight into the tree trunk and stopped cold, stepping aside just in time for a blurring whirlwind of leaves and an angry tinker fairy to scream right past her.

* * *

Tinker Bell blew right past the fast flyer and into a piece of old tree bark. There was a hole where a knot used to be and Tink unwittingly plunged right through it. Snapping and crackling sounds were heard when she did.

"Ooof!" Tink grunted as she abruptly came to a halt inside the knot hole. "Hey! What?" Tinker Bell was stuck tight. She tried to push forward, but her feet couldn't find purchase as they scratched wildly in the air. Then she swung her legs forward and tried pushing against the bark. Tink couldn't back out, either. She was at Vidia's mercy.

* * *

**I should have Chapter 10 posted by mid or late Monday. Enjoy everyone.**


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

* * *

**Note: the phrase "green collar" is used as the fairy version of "blue collar" in this chapter.**

* * *

When Tinker Bell took the hammer during her arrival ceremony and it glowed brightly, the assembled fairies were stunned that her talent was greater than the talent of any other fairy in Pixie Hollow. From that moment on Vidia immediately and correctly perceived the little tinker as a threat, a threat to her title as the greatest and most talented fairy in all of Never Land. Vidia's highly inflated ego and sense of superiority could not accept this change in the reality and was lashing out at the tinker fairy to maintain Vidia's status quo.

Her machinations were leading Vidia down a path of self induced madness which resulted from her long standing cognitive dissonance, the unwillingness to accept the difference between how she perceived herself and the reality of who she really was. It was what drove her competitiveness, her vindictiveness and her isolationism. She simply could not and would not accept that some other fairy might be better than her. Vidia would look for some excuse or take some action to avoid having to accept the reality.

Vidia had moved directly against Tinker Bell by destroying the tinker's house, but was unsatisfied by the result. Tinker Bell did not wilt under Vidia's assault and left the fast flyer with the same problem she had before. So now Vidia was going to take extreme action against the tinker fairy to force Tinker Bell to accept Vidia's pecking order and allow the fast flyer to maintain her delusion.

* * *

"Well, well, well," Vidia taunted the captured tinker fairy, "I guess you aren't as talented as you think you are."

Tinker Bell reached out to grab the fast flyer, but Vidia stayed just out of reach. "Come here you home killer, I've got a few choice words for you."

"Oh, well, please, do tell."

"How could you do that?" Tinker Bell asked. "Why would you do that?!"

"I already told you," Vidia replied with irritation, "because of you I had to round up all the thistles."

"You did that to yourself, Vidia," the tinker fairy replied. "You set me up to fail. Fairies are supposed to help each other."

"Oh you bet I set you up to fail, Tinker Bell," Vidia said with a sneer. "I was the one who released the two you corralled."

Tinker Bell was shocked by this admission. She had always thought that the two thistles had gotten out by themselves and that she had made a mistake in the design. "You mean, my idea worked? I could have captured the thistles? That's great."

_What? Grrr…, why does she keep turning things the other way? She really is a goody two-wings._

"No, I mean that you were always _supposed_ to fail," Vidia said. "That's what I wanted you to think of yourself: that you were an epic failure. And do you know why? Because I'm the greatest, most talented fairy in all of Pixie Hollow and Never Land."

"It must really eat you up inside that I have more talent than you."

"YOU AREN'T MORE TALENTED, TINKER BELL! I DON'T CARE HOW BRIGHT YOUR HAMMER GLOWED."

"I _am_ more talented than you, Vidia, get over it."

"YOU DON'T COUNT! You're just a lousy tinker and tinkers don't count. You're not even a real talent," Vidia finally admitted.

"Then why bother?"

"Because everyone else thinks you're so special." Vidia began to flit back and forth as she started to describe to Tinker Bell just what she thought of the tinker guild and its membership. "Tinkering is not a real talent. Fairy talents use magic and inherent skills to do something that no other guild can do. Tinkers, my dear, don't fit that description one bit."

"We are a real talent, Vidia. Why else is there a hammer whenever a new fairy arrives?"

Vidia answered by continuing her diatribe. "All you do is swing a hammer around, or tie knots. You cut, you saw, you mill, you weave, you do things that any fairy in Pixie Hollow can do. That's why you aren't a talent. That's why you shouldn't even be counted as a fairy."

"What?! We are fairies. Look at our wings. We use pixie dust just like you."

"Don't make me laugh, Tinker Bell," Vidia answered with a fearlessly indignant tone. "Fast flyers use magic to create breezes and winds. Garden talents use pixie dust to grow and talk to plants. Water talents use magic to draw water out of the air and to help fish and tadpoles learn to swim. Animal talents use magic to help them talk to and manage the animals. Light talents use magic to capture sunlight and create rainbows."

Tinker Bell continued to turn darker and darker shades of red. "Don't make me angry, Vidia," she said, "you wouldn't like me when I'm angry."

Vidia paused for a second so she could pinch Tinker Bell's cheek and said, "Well aren't you just the cutest." This was a gesture meant to be demeaning and dismissive.

Then she resumed. "But you would know all about that, Tinker Bell, wouldn't you? You tried all of those talents yourself and couldn't do any of them. You know why? Because those guilds need magic, tinkers don't."

"Yes we do!"

"No you don't. Those clumsy humans on the mainland can do the same things your guild can do. They don't need magic to cut things down or hammer something together. They don't require pixie dust to weave baskets or tie knots. So, do you know what that makes you, Tinker Bell? A clumsy human with wings; which is why you and your guild don't matter." This was one the excuses Vidia had made up decades ago so she could alter reality to match her self perceptions.

Tinker Bell was appalled and outraged by what Vidia was saying. No fairy had ever voiced such utter contempt for another guild. Hearing these rants against her tinker friends only made Tinker Bell more livid. She clawed and flailed and pushed against everything and anything to get loose from that tree bark. Her feet would finally gain some traction, but then slide off. Her wings were pinched in the knot hole and she couldn't use them to free herself. Tinker Bell then tried another approach to her problem.

"If anyone can do it, then why don't you try it, Vidia?" Tinker Bell spat out.

"Because I have better things to do with my time then lowly manual labor," she said. "That's what creatures like you are for. You do the dull, menial, mindless work in your little hole below the ground while the rest of us use our talents to do important things above the ground."

"So you do need us," Tinker Bell said with a smile. "I guess we're more important than you care to admit, just as important as yours or any other talent guild."

"You're nothing but green collar manual labor, Tinker Bell, and don't you ever forget that," Vidia roared. "But you don't know when to take a hint, do you? I've been trying to keep you in line since you got here, but you don't seem to want to stay put. So now I'm going to try a different tactic."

Vidia flew down and flitted around the tree trunk examining the bark. She found what she wanted; a piece of bark with one end that was narrow, but widened on the other side. Vidia took hold of it and pulled it until the chunk snapped off. She checked it over to make sure she got what she wanted. Satisfied Vidia flew back up to Tinker Bell and put the piece of bark right in front of her as if on display.

"You see this?" Vidia asked with a wicked smile on her face. "Clumsy human parents use something just like this to put their disobedient children in their place. Well now I'm going to use it to put you in your place."

* * *

"Are we getting any closer?" Clank asked the others.

"Let me take a look on ahead," Terence said. He flew out of view for a few seconds. When he came back he looked terribly distraught. "It's the boundary to spring; we've been going in circles."

"Oh no, now what'll we do?" Rosetta said with a tremble in her voice.

Silvermist flew above the foliage and started to yell. "Tinker Bell, Tinker Bell where are you?"

Moments later her friends joined her.

* * *

"Tinker Bell, Tinker Bell where are you?" Tink didn't hear Silvermist, she was too worried thinking about what Vidia intended to do with that piece of broken tree bark. The fast flyer suddenly zipped out of view.

"Where are you, Vidia? What are going to do?"

"You'll see," she replied. "Or rather, you'll feel it."

* * *

Vidia landed just inches away from Tinker Bell's unprotected bottom. "All too easy."

"Vidia, stop," Tinker Bell protested.

"Oh no, I haven't even started yet." Vidia spat into her hands then took the narrow end of the tree bark chunk and took a few practice swings with it, lining up the arc with her target: Tinker Bell's rump.

"Vidia, don't do this!" Tink yelled out. She began to push harder to get out, apparently having figured out what Vidia intended.

"When you got me stuck catching all those thistles you also confined me to this island," Vidia spoke. "You went to the mainland when I should have gone. Instead I got scratched and cut and poked in every place possible while trying to catch those awful weeds. So here is my payback."

"You've already destroyed my house and wiped out my life's work what more do you want?"

"I want you to admit that I'm better than you!" Vidia bellowed. "And I don't want you to show me up ever again."

"I can't do that. I have to be what I am, the best tinker I can."

"Well then, I hope you don't mind not sitting for a week."

"VIDIA, NO!"

"This is for going to the mainland in my place!" Vidia stepped forward and took a huge swing.

WHOOMP!

"VIDIA, STOP, VIDI-YAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" the tinker fairy cried out when she was struck squarely in her bum.

"This is for making me catch all those thistles!" Once again she swung. WHOOMP!

"VIDIA! STOP! DO-AAAAAAAAAAAAGGH!" Tinker Bell started moving and squirming trying to get free. "Vidia, stop what you're doing. Just stop."

"And this, my dear," Vidia continuned, "is for thinking that _you're better than me_!" Vidia took a HUGE swing, gathering all her speed and strength into the bark turned paddle and smacked the tinker fairy right in her backside. WHOOOMP!

This time Tinker Bell didn't scream or make a sound. She was eerily quiet.

Vidia set the tree bark down and flitted around to confront her rival, hoping to find her pouting and ready to concede. What she saw was the complete opposite. Tinker Bell had turned an intensely deep shade of red. Not just in her face, but her arms and body and legs. The bark holding her in place literally began to smolder.

She had pushed Tinker Bell beyond anger, beyond rage, beyond fury and into the stratosphere of unhinged blood-lust. This was a point where Tinker Bell's anger so completely overrode her moral compass that it made Tink capable of any act of violence toward anyone no matter how potentially dangerous or lethal. Never had Tinker Bell been so impossibly furious (and she wouldn't be again until, when flying with Peter Pan some years later, he would invite that Wendy girl back to Never Land).

Vidia simply went numb. She began to flit backwards, away from Tinker Bell whose eyes were burning holes right through Vidia's soul. The fast flyer couldn't run and couldn't look away. She felt like prey staring down a predator. Unwilling to leave or turn away for fear that it would strike at the first opportunity.

Tinker Bell's feet finally found solid purchase, the knot holed bark began to crack and pop. Vidia moved further and further away from the monster she had created.

"Tink," she tried to say in a calm and appeasing voice. "I was only kidding. Okay? Don't take it personally."

The tinker fairy didn't care to hear it. Instead she could only growl out the words, "I'm going to tear the wings right off your back!"

The tree bark exploded, releasing the captured Tinker Bell and prompting Vidia to hurry out of the forest and across the sky, flying as fast as her fast flyer wings could push her. Tinker Bell followed screaming like bloody murder at the top of her lungs.

* * *

The small band of fairies heard the screeching from above and looked up to see a yellow light streaking across the sky leaving a pixie dust trail in its wake. At an increasing distance behind it was a ridiculously bright red light following behind. It was screeching and screaming and cursing as it did.

"What is that?" Silvermist asked.

"It's Tinker Bell," Terence answered with an astonished tone. "I've never seen her so angry."

"She looks like she could kill poor Vidia," Rosetta said.

"Poor Vidia?" Silvermist replied in disbelief. "When did she suddenly become 'Poor Vidia?'"

"That doesn't matter right now, we need to stop Tinker Bell before she does something she'll regret." He flew off to try and intercept the red glowing light. The others followed his lead.

* * *

The fast fairy was indeed fast this day, her body piercing through the air at speeds even Wisp could only dream of. Vidia then dove into the trees to conceal her movements. She sliced through groves and forests, slid between branches and leaves before finally coming to a distant pasture. Here Vidia opened the grass covered trap door to a hawk shelter and zipped into the darkness. This is where she waited, curled up against the far wall watching the tiny pin pricks of light that were created by closed trap door and hoping that Tinker Bell wouldn't find her here. Even an irate Queen Clarion would be preferable by a factor ten.

So Vidia waited, her heart filled with dread and anxiety, her arms and legs shaking, sweat beading down her face and neck. She waited and waited and waited some more, tracking the time by the slow crawl of light on the shelter floor. All the while hoping, even praying to the second star that Tinker Bell would never find her.

* * *

After the queen had heard every detail she remained oddly silent for several minutes. Fairy Mary could see just how disturbed and upset she was.

Finally, Queen Clarion spoke, taking action to end this pointless rivalry once and for all. "Ministers," she called out to them.

"Yes, your highness," each one said as they approached her.

"Vidia has done something most terrible and I need your help to assess the extent of her actions. I require each of you to go to your respective jurisdictions and learn all that she damaged in each season."

The ministers bowed and left for their regions. "Well, so much for a pleasant cup of tea," Hyacinth, the Minister of Spring said under his breath.

"Viola, attend me at once." The queen announced.

Viola, the queen's summoner, flitted in right away. "Yes, your highness. How may I serve you?"

"Find Lockheed of the fast flyers," the queen instructed. "Question him for every name of every fairy and sparrow man he knows who encountered or saw Vidia during the last two weeks. Then search each one of them out and have them report to me for witness testimony. Finally, bring me Rosetta, Silvermist and Terence. Gather the other summoners to complete this task."

"Yes, your highness, right away." Viola slipped out of the audience chamber and set off to complete her royal assignment.

"Fairy Mary," she said turning to her oldest and best friend, "I want you to question every tinker and bring me thorough witness testimony. I will also want a full accounting of everything that was damaged in Tinker's Nook."

"Yes, your highness." Fairy Mary left right away to collect all the information the queen requested.

Queen Clarion was left alone with her thoughts. _Nothing I have done has been able to return my wayward flyer to our harmonious fold. Perhaps it is time to take far more drastic action. It may be time to show her the full consequences of her actions._

* * *

**Hoo boy. I'm sure this will be the make or break chapter for this story. I do hope everyone has enjoyed reading this story thus far. There is plenty more to come.**


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

"Where are you, Vidia?" Tinker Bell said with a touch of crazy in her voice. She was just as unhinged now as she had been when the little tinker fairy blasted off after the fast flyer. Tink's backside was still smarting from getting paddled by Vidia.

"Grrrr… I'll find you, Vidia, where ever you are!" she howled into the winds. "I will find you! And when I do you will regret it!"

"Tink," Terence called to her. "Wait, whatever it is that you're planning, don't do it, please."

_Oh no, not now_. She palmed her face as Terence, Rosetta, Silvermist, Clank and Bobble flew up to her.

"Tinker Bell, are you okay?" Silvermist asked her.

"You didn't hurt Vidia, did you?" Rosetta followed up.

"Not yet, **but I will**," Tinker Bell replied, that bit of crazy still very present in her tone.

"Tink, don't," Terence pleaded. "You'll only get yourself into trouble."

"Yes, let the queen handle everything," Silvermist told her.

"I get first crack at Vidia. Then the queen can have whatever is left," Tinker Bell snarled.

They all looked very worried for their friend. Tinker Bell was so emotional she was coming apart at the wings.

"Calm down, Miss Bell," Clank said.

"Aye, you'll only end up in trouble with the queen like Miss Vidia," Bobble helpfully added.

"In trouble? **_In trouble?!_** Where were you when I was in trouble?!" Tinker Bell shouted. "Vidia stuck me in a tree, told me that tinkers aren't real talents and then paddled my tushy for not saying she's more talented than I am."

"Oh dear," Bobble gasped.

"I am the most talented fairy in Pixie Hollow! If I don't tear her big, fat wings off _and then force feed them to her with milk weed whip and ground cinnamon on top __**then **_**_she should consider herself_**_** to be**__**THE LUCKIEST FAIRY ON THE PLANET!**_" Tinker Bell ranted.

Tinker Bell then bolted off into the cherry blossom orchard. Terence and the others gave chase, but had to break off when all of them were stopped by Viola.

* * *

Hiding inside the hawk shelter Vidia had little else to do except reflect on how badly her plan had failed. She wondered how so many things went wrong when she had thought out the plan so thoroughly. Even as she became absorbed by her internal monologue Vidia never took her eyes off of the pinpricks of light that were formed by the closed trap door of the shelter.

So many things had indeed gone wrong. Vidia realized that there were numerous other variables to which she had never given due consideration. First, that garden fairies were experts on the thistles and could tell she was faking. Second, she never looked scared or anxious which was an easy give away. Third, that her approach to Tinker's Nook was the only way a thistle could get to Tink's cottage home and by itself was very suspicious. Fourth, that knocking Silvermist into the water would reveal how much control she actually had over the thistles. Fifth was taking revenge on Tinker Bell so soon after being assigned to capture the thistles. That was a connection that was far too easy to make. And lastly, that the thistles would panic after only a few seconds in the confined spaces of Tinker's Nook housing district.

That last one, the event that truly sparked her downfall, was what got her attention the most. There is an old fairy saying, "Fish don't know they are in water." It means that fairies, like fish, take their environment and how they live in it, for granted. Fairies unconsciously (or subconsciously if you prefer) make certain assumptions in their thinking and decision making. These assumptions are not intellectual, but implied and color their way of looking at the world. They don't even know they make them unless it is pointed out.

Vidia made this very mistake. She thought as fairies always think, in three dimensions. Because fairies can fly they think on three axes, the horizontal x and y axes and the vertical z axis. The problem was that thistles cannot fly and Vidia never made the complete intellectual leap to two dimensional movements in her planning. When formulating her scheme, Vidia contemplated several problems and worked out solutions to each of them. This included what to do if she lost control of the thistles. In the wide open spaces of Pixie Hollow she could let them run wild until she got control of them and then try again another day.

Yet when she laid out plans for where to go and what to do once inside Tinker's Nook she never once considered that she might lose control of the weeds in the Nook's confined spaces or that she would be confronted by immovable obstacles where ever she went. Vidia was so focused on how wonderful it would feel to successfully destroy Tinker Bell's home that she never gave it a second thought. Why? Because she unconsciously (or subconsciously) viewed the roots and walls the way a fairy would, not as a thistle would. She never considered them obstacles because she could fly over them like she always had. It was a safety valve in her thinking that had come back to haunt her.

Vidia berated herself for not giving forethought to these complications. With nothing else to occupy her attention it quickly became a sore spot for her and began to undermine her sense of superiority. _If you're so great, Vidia, why didn't you think about all of this before hand?_

* * *

In the final equation, though, Vidia sought what every fairy wanted: recognition, appreciation and acceptance for what she was, what she had to offer and what she could accomplish. Unfortunately, Vidia's egotism, antagonistic and often vindictive attitude, isolationism, hyper competitiveness and tendency to lash out kept her fellow fairies at arm's length where they could never get to know the real fairy underneath the bluster. Her belief that she was shunned by fairy society because they were jealous of her greatness prevented her from doing anything more than her assigned duties every season. Whereas Tinker Bell used her creative energies to design new contraptions that helped Pixie Hollow, Vidia would direct her creativity to finding new ways to denigrate the other fairies and talent guilds rather than help or improve her community.

* * *

Tinker Bell zoomed through Pixie Hollow trying to find her prey when she spotted Vidia's house in the Sour Plum Tree. _That must be where she's hiding._

Tink dove towards the house and kicked open the door when she landed. Inside, however, she found no one. The tinker fairy was about to take off to keep looking, but just as she was about to leave her feet, Tinker Bell had a marvelous idea.

_So, you destroyed my home, hmm? Fine, two can play at that game._

* * *

Queen Clarion listened to testimony after testimony from dozens of fairies and sparrow men across several different talents. The picture that came together was so disquieting it worried Clarion that Vidia may have reached a point of no return. She silently wondered if Vidia could even be saved.

_Did I let you go too far? Did I fail you, my dear Vidia?_

Ultimately the queen decided that no fairy was beyond saving and that she would give full and uncompromising effort to help the fast flyer see the errors of her ways. Clarion told herself that the only way she would fail is if she gave up.

* * *

When Vidia first ducked into the hawk shelter the pin points of light touched the dirt at the far end of the space. Now the points had crawled their way almost to the other side. The light had also changed color from bright yellow to an orangey hue. She had spent the entire day hiding inside. It explained why Vidia was so hungry and thirsty now. With no other recourse the fast flyer peaked out of the shelter and carefully looked around for even the slightest hint of Tinker Bell.

It was early afternoon and the fairies of the hollow had all gone to dinner. Vidia wanted desperately to eat, but Tinker Bell might be there waiting for her and she would certainly be seen by the entire populace of Pixie Hollow. So the fast flyer carefully made her way back to her house.

_Wait, she might be there instead. Oh great, I'm stuck. Wherever I go she might be there waiting for me._

But Vidia had to go somewhere, so she flitted over to the dining hall and found it packed with fairies and sparrow man sitting down for their meal. She snuck in the back way and took some food and drink when no one was looking. She ate quickly while hiding in a nearby tree. From there Vidia slipped her way across Pixie Hollow to her home in the Sour Plum Tree. But when she got there, Vidia found Tinker Bell standing at the door. She appeared to be inspecting it before finally closing it.

_What are you doing to my home you lousy tinker? She can't destroy it because it's inside a tree trunk so she must have left a trap inside for me, probably at the door. _

Vidia hid while trying to decide whether to go into her home or somewhere else. However, there was no other place where she could go. Vidia had made herself a pariah and had no friends she could call on to let her stay the night. Frustrated she flitted down to her home and tested the door. It moved slightly, but was blocked by something. _Too smart for ya, Tinker Bell_.

Instead she went in through the only window in her home. It faced the East so the early morning sunlight would wake her up every morning. She flitted around to the window, opened it and carefully lowered herself into her home. Vidia was careful to watch for Tinker Bell so she never looked inside her house before entering.

When Vidia set her feet on the floor she thought she felt something brush against her leg. When she looked down she saw Cheese the mouse. _What in the name of the Second Star are you doing here? _

Vidia then saw Cheddar, another mouse, as well as Jack, and his best friend Monty, and also Camembert, Romano, Mascarpone, Wensleydale and Roquefort. In fact she saw all of the cart-pulling mice.

_AAAAHHH! They're all stuffed into my home! This is what she was doing while I've been hiding? I could have been anywhere and never been seen by her. That blasted Tinker Bell was here desecrating my home with these filthy, stinking mice!_

"CHEESE," Vidia screamed. "GET OUT OF MY HOUSE! ALL OF YOU! GET OUT!"

When the fast flyer started screaming the mice were startled and were incited to run around her home and scratch and tear up things.

"No! No! Stop it, all of you. Ahhh! Cheddar, got off of my bed! You, not my furniture! Jack, my ceiling fan is not a snack! Roquefort, you can't eat that, those are my clothes! Monty no that's not a…, you can't pee there! NO! OUT! OUT! OUT, BEFORE I SIC THE HAWK ON EACH AND EVERY ONE OF YOU! GET OUT!"

She tried to open the door to remove them, but every time she did the scurrying, frightened mice would push up against her and the door causing it close once more. Again and again she tried, but she simply could not evacuate the mice. The more she screamed at them the more alarmed they became and the more they tore up the inside of her home.

Vidia flitted above the fray and started pounding on the door and the walls screaming out that accursed name: "TINKER BELL! TINKER BELL, YOU COME BACK HERE AND GET THESE MICE OUT OF MY HOME! DO YOU HEAR ME?! TINKER BELL?! I HATE YOU, YOU STUPID TINKER FAIRY! TINKER BELL!"

* * *

**Note: All the names for the mice I used are actually names of different cheeses. Seemed fitting.**

**Next Chapter: Queen Clarion lays down the law.**

**Thank you all for reading and please keep reviewing. It is the only way I can get better as a writer. And it encourages me to write more stories (the Second Star help us).**


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12  
PART 1 - Catfight

* * *

Tinker Bell flitted back onto Tinker's Nook. She looked rather pleased with herself despite having lost her entire house and belongings just hours earlier.

Fairy Mary took notice and asked, "Tinker Bell, are you okay?" The tinker supervisor had questioned everyone and got her report completed and delivered before dinner. She asked the tinkers to stay late and continue the clean up. Once that was done, they all descended on the broken houses and mended as many as they could. The remnants of Tinker Bell's home were scheduled to be scrapped first thing in the morning. All of her salvageable possessions were gathered and put into storage until a new house could be built for her. The tinker supervisor was worried that when Tinker Bell returned and saw the empty spot it would crumble her spirits. Curiously, however, that did not seem to be the case.

"I'm just fine, Fairy Mary. I think I'll go to my worktable and finish some acorn bowls for tomorrow."

"You didn't do any harm to Vidia, did you?" Fairy Mary asked in a kindly fashion.

"I can promise you I never laid a hand on her," Tinker Bell replied honestly, even while omitting certain critical details.

"Oh good, well perhaps you should take some time off and get some res…" Fairy Mary caught herself. Where would Tinker Bell rest? She had no home.

"That's okay. Rosetta will let me stay with her tonight and I'll be even better in the morning," Tinker Bell said. She seemed abnormally calm and Fairy Mary began to toy with the idea that her charge may have done something awful against Vidia. Tinker Bell said she didn't lay a hand on her, but that didn't mean she couldn't have done something else. After all, Vidia destroyed Tinker Bell's home and still never laid a hand on Tinker Bell. Whether the fast flyer deserved it or not, it wasn't Tinker Bell's place to seek retribution. There were laws in Pixie Hollow to prevent that.

"Fairy Mary," Bobble called to her, flying up to meet his supervisor. "We have enough wares to make a delivery this evening, but we can't find any of the mice. Have you seen them?"

"Now that you mention it, I haven't," she replied.

"Oh don't worry about the mice, Bobble," Tinker Bell interrupted, a mischievous if rather satisfied grin playing across her face. "Right now they're playing a nice game of fairy tag."

_Oh dear, I may have to file another report with the queen_, Fairy Mary told herself.

* * *

Unable to open the door Vidia slid back out of the window and flew off to find an animal talent. She came across Fawn and Buck some minutes later.

"Fawn! Fawn!" she called out to her.

The animal talent rolled her eyes. "What do you want, Vidia?" she said with an irritated tone.

"I need your help, the-."

"After what you did to Tinker Bell today?!" Fawn had heard about the incident when she asked how the thistles came to be loose with ropes tied around them. As the updated story spread quickly, Fawn discovered that Vidia had planned and executed the whole thing. She was in no mood to offer assistance to this particular fairy. "The answer is 'NO!'"

"There are a bunch of mice in my house and I can't get rid of them."

"How did mice get in your house?" Fawn asked.

"Tinker Bell put them in there."

"Well good for her, bad for you," Fawn said with a wry grin.

"Uuugghh," she groaned. "Just get them out of my house!"

Buck shook his head and said. "Why should we bother to help you?"

"Let's go, Buck," Fawn said.

"What? Why?" Buck asked.

"I'm not doing it for Vidia, I'm doing it for the mice." Fawn leaned in real close and whispered to him, "The mice could pick up fleas in there." Both chuckled at Fawn's little joke.

"I heard that," Vidia said with a scowl.

The two animal talents flew to Vidia's tree trunk home. Like the fast flyer, so many mice were stuffed into the house that the animal fairies could not open the door to enter and each had to slip in through the window. When they finally got inside, though, Fawn was blindsided with horror by what she saw. "Oh my wings! Buck, hurry! Get an animal healing fairy! Get two of them! Vidia, get in here and help me, RIGHT NOW!"

* * *

Queen Clarion had finished with the witness testimonies and the ministers' reports regarding the thistle incident and was now reading Fairy Mary's fully detailed accounting. Wanting to investigate further, the fairy queen decided to fly out to Tinker's Nook to survey the damage in person.

* * *

While Fawn, Buck and two animal healing talents were attending to the mice in the flyer's tree trunk home, Vidia decided it was time for a showdown with Tinker Bell. She flew off towards Tinker's Nook, hoping to find that little so and so there.

* * *

"Miss Bell?" Bobble asked. "Uh…, you don't seem to be very…, um…, upset about your home anymore." Tinker Bell's rather placid demeanor disquieted several of Tink's close workmates. Bobble, who tended to be a bit protective of Tinker Bell, decided to take the initiative and posed a few roundabout questions.

"Well, it's like Terence said earlier," she replied with an unusually peaceful tone, "it's only a house and it can be replaced."

"That's very mature of you, Miss Bell," Clank told her.

"Did you…do anything while you were away?" Bobble asked gently.

"Sure. I decided to have lunch and flew around for a while. Then I had dinner and came back here to do some work," Tinker Bell lied…, partly.

"Did you do anything…, um…, interesting?" Bobble asked.

Clank, who despite being an excellent tinker, wasn't always as bright when it came to dealing with others, blurted out, "You didn't hurt Vidia like you said you would earlier today, did you?"

"Splinters, Clanky, you don't come right and say it," Bobble chided him.

Tinker Bell became rather irate with this line of questioning. "Why is everyone so interested in what I did today?"

"Because, we worry about ye, Miss Be-," but Bobble was cut off.

"THERE YOU ARE YOU LOUSY TINKER," Vidia screamed angrily.

Fairy Mary flew up to intercept the fast flyer. "Oh no you don't, Vidia," she told her. "You've already done enough damage."

Vidia wasn't listening. She shot right past the tinker supervisor and plowed straight into Tinker Bell, knocking the little fairy onto the floor. "You brought mice into my house!" Vidia yelled. "They destroyed everything I own!"

"Well now you know how it feels, Vidia!" Tinker Bell shouted back.

Vidia was incensed. "I'm going to fairy slap you all the way to mainland," she cried out.

A catfight between the two began as Vidia started grabbing, flailing and scratching at Tinker Bell.

Tink, in turn, blocked the flyer's arms with one hand and with the other she grabbed Vidia's hair and started pulling. The pair then rolled on the ground as each one was slapping, scratching and pulling at the other.

Vidia yanked at Tinker Bell's hair and undid her chignon causing Tink's golden locks to fly everywhere. Tinker Bell pushed away and scratched at her assailant's face and neck. Finally, Vidia flipped Tinker Bell over on to her back. The fast flyer then jumped atop Tinker Bell and tried to punch the tinker fairy in the face. Tink twisted away and the flyer's fist pounded into the dirt. Vidia leapt to her feet screeching and jumping around while shaking her hand. The pain felt like an electric shock going up her arm.

Tinker Bell lunged straight into Vidia's midsection and slammed the flyer into the wall. Tinker Bell kicked and punched at Vidia shouting, "You started this, Vidia, and now I'm going to finish it!"

"I'll say when it's finished, Tinker Bell," Vidia yelled back as she shoved the tinker fairy away with her wind talent.

The other tinker talents were so surprised and shocked by the unprecedented sight of two pixies fighting that none moved. They were as paralyzed as they were in the early hours when Vidia came through their nook driving the two thistles.

Fairy Mary tried to intervene and scolded them. "Now see here, both of you. Stop fighting this instant." But neither combatant heard her, or if they did, they were each too infuriated with the other to comply.

Clank and Bobble finally moved in and pulled the two girls apart. Tinker Bell and Vidia were snarling, clawing and screaming un-fairy like things at each other. Vidia, though, easily overpowered the diminutive Bobble and leapt at Tinker Bell. She pulled the tinker from Clank's grasp and tossed her to the ground. Vidia then dove onto Tinker Bell and the two were once again tumbling and rolling on the floor as they tried to beat each other into pixie dust.

A brilliant flash of light and a frighteningly monstrous thunderclap brought the scuffle to a sudden end. Tinker Bell and Vidia turned and stared directly at the source of the terrible noise:

**THE QUEEN**

Both fairies gulped hard as they looked into Clarion's eyes and saw much disapproval, which is a gentle way of saying that Clarion was boiling mad.

"That will be quite enough, from both of you," the queen said in a quiet, but undeniably authoritative voice. The queen lifted one eyebrow as she studied the two fairies. Both were on the ground, unmoving, arms wrapped around each other as though still grappling.

"Tinker Bell. Vidia. You will both go to the Pixie Dust Tree and wait for me to return. Is that clear?" she said.

"Yes, your highness," the two fairies replied. Viola approached and escorted both to the queen's audience chamber. When the two were out of sight, Clarion turned to her friend, Fairy Mary, and asked to be shown the damage caused by Vidia and the thistles.

"Right this way, your highness," the tinker supervisor replied, escorting the queen to the sight of Tinker Bell's former home. Fairy Mary described what happened in detail. Clarion studied the remains of Tinker Bell's home and tried to imagine what it must have been like when the thistles came over the rise and crushed the fairy cottage.

The queen was then shown the damaged homes in the housing district. Once more Fairy Mary explained what happened and how Vidia seemed to actually lose control of the thistles among the roots and walls. Lastly, Fairy Mary showed the queen all the broken and damaged tinker wares that were set to be scrapped the next morning. "All of this happened when the thistles found their way out of the housing area and charged through the courtyard like, well, like the stampeding thistles right before spring."

"Thank you, Fairy Mary," the queen said approvingly. "You have done splendid work controlling what could have been a disaster. Please continue as you see fit."

Fairy Mary bowed and the queen returned to her tree. However, when Clarion arrived, a new incident report was waiting for her. It provided an initial summary of the events in which Tinker Bell was accused of taking the cart pulling mice into Vidia's home as an act of vigilantism. The queen sighed and thought to herself, _this must end now_.

It wasn't over for the queen just yet, though. She still had to interrogate both Tinker Bell and Vidia.

* * *

"It was all her fault, your highness," Tinker Bell said, speaking rapidly. "She brought the thistles into Tinker's Nook, she destroyed my house and then she…"

"Tinker Bell," the queen interrupted. "I'm only interested in facts, not opinions. Is that understood?"

"Yes, your highness," Tinker Bell replied, her head held low.

It was during the questioning session that Queen Clarion first heard of what happened at the tree trunk in the Autumn Woods. Including what Vidia had said about the tinker guild. Clarion was revolted by what she had heard. The queen hoped it was merely Tinker Bell exaggerating the facts. Clarion knew well of Vidia's superiority complex, but could not believe it had gone this far.

Later, Vidia was brought in to tell her side of the thistle story. Amazingly she corroborated everything, although in terms that made her appear justified in her actions. When confronted with her words of prejudice against the tinkers, though, Vidia denied everything. Then the queen pointed to Fairy Mary's report where the fast flyer was less than kind in describing Tinker's Nook.

"I believe you called it a 'stinking hole in the ground.' I hope she was mistaken."

Vidia said nothing.

The queen also noted a conversation Vidia had with Tinker Bell the day the tinker fairy arrived in which the fast flyer tried to convince Tinker Bell that she was not at all important in the grand scheme of things. Once more Vidia had described Tinker's Nook in very derogatory terms calling it a "ditch." Apparently, Tinker Bell had mentioned the conversation to Bobble who later involved Fairy Mary.

Vidia finally admitted some of what Tinker Bell had said, but only in the simplest and vaguest words possible. She did not want to have to go into detail. Queen Clarion insisted and with the right prodding eventually Vidia told her everything she thought about the tinkers and every other guild in Pixie Hollow. The queen was floored by the admission. This kind of incendiary thinking was unheard of in Never Land.

Tinker Bell was then brought back in to clarify details, defend her testimony and refute any claims made by Vidia. Vidia was then allowed to do the same for herself. When the session was over the queen was most disturbed by what she had heard and seen. Clarion needed time, however; time to think, to process everything thoroughly, and to consider likely punishments. But above all she needed the detailed report of the mouse incident. What she had read was most troubling, considering that Tinker Bell was the perpetrator and that it involved her friend Cheese and his mouse chums.

* * *

"Each of you is guilty of egregious acts of wanton violence, destruction and cruelty aimed at each other. However, in what you have done today, each of you has put innocent lives needlessly in mortal danger. Your rivalry has lead to actions most unbecoming fairies of Pixie Hollow. However, until I have a full accounting of what happened at Vidia's home and to the mice involved I cannot as yet formulate proper sentences for either of you."

Tinker Bell and Vidia glanced at each other.

"Therefore, until such time as all information is available to me and I have been able to complete my investigation into the events of this day, you are both to be held in confinement until further notice."

"Confinement?!" Vidia shouted in disbelief. "Why?"

The queen responded quite candidly, "Because each of you has demonstrated that you cannot restrain yourselves from engaging in reprisals against the other. So you will be restrained for your own good and the good of all the fairies and animals that live in Pixie Hollow."

The queen gave a simple gesture with her hand. Viola and two sentry talents responded by escorting Tinker Bell and Vidia to confinement cells, the Pixie Hollow equivalent of jail, where they were to stay until the queen called them to be sentenced for their outrageous behavior.

* * *

**Author's Note: Chignon = According to Wikipedia, a hair style similar to a bun.  
**

* * *

**I am sorry. I know I promised that in Chapter 12 the queen would finally punish Vidia. Unfortunately, there was just so much still to tell that I had to break it down into two parts.**

**Part II will be up tomorrow. And yes, you will finally get to read what Queen Clarion has to say about all that has happened.**

**Thank you for your patience.**

**Next Chapter: The sentencing of Vidia and Tinker Bell (for real this time). Plus what happened to the mice.**


	13. Chapter 12a

**Chapter 12 - Part II**

**Okay, so I started writing this out and it turned into a huge chapter even after breaking it into two parts. **  
**So the sentencing will be spread across four sections, but I will try to get all four posted by tonight.**

* * *

The next morning Queen Clarion woke and had her breakfast while reading the full and final report of the mouse incident at Vidia's home in the Sour Plum Tree. It was a terribly disheartening read and tears began to run down her cheeks. _Tinker Bell, what were you thinking?_

She contemplated what would be an appropriate punishment for each of her two most talented fairies. Another task wouldn't be sufficient to change Vidia's cold heart. She needed to be humbled before Vidia could be reformed. The queen reflected deeply on Vidia's words and deeds since the fast flyer arrived and a startling pattern of growing disregard for others emerged. Now it was time for the queen to take matters into her own hands.

Tinker Bell was a different matter. She needed a traditional punishment, but also one that would illuminate why Tinker Bell couldn't give in to such intense emotions. As she gave consideration to Tinker Bell's penalty, a memory surfaced. Clarion had Viola fetch a book from the Queen's private library to study before handing down her reprimand to the tinker fairy.

* * *

Tinker Bell and Vidia spent the night in separate confinement cells. Although they could talk with each other freely, Vidia didn't have much to say to her rival. Neither slept well that night. Vidia and Tinker Bell were filled with too much dread and anxiety wondering what penalties the queen would hand down to each of them.

Tinker Bell didn't think her reprimand would be too severe. All she did was get into a fight with Vidia, which the flyer started. Though the queen certainly wasn't very happy to see them scuffling about on the floor of Tinker's Nook. Tink felt quite confident she would emerge from this with only a slap on the wrist.

* * *

The queen studied the old book and found some interesting information about fairies with "super" talents she had forgotten. It provided her with what she needed to properly ground Tinker Bell that would hopefully help prevent future outbursts of extreme emotions.

With all of this in hand the queen finally decided on the punishments to hand down and summoned the two fairies, plus one more, to her presence in the main audience chamber.

* * *

Tinker Bell and Vidia were served breakfast and then led out to the baths so they could clean up and put on fresh clothes before facing their queen. Once this was done, both were lead to the main audience chamber. When they arrived they were rather surprised to see another fairy there: Silvermist.

"What are you doing here?" Tinker Bell asked of the water talent.

"I don't know," she replied. "I was just told to report here after my bath and breakfast."

"But you didn't do anything wrong," Tinker Bell commented.

"Yes, she did," Vidia interjected. "She got in my way yesterday morning."

"I did no such thing, Vidia," Silvermist groused. "You took too much pleasure in tossing me into the water. I hope the queen throws the Pixie Dust Tree at you."

Viola entered the chamber and blew her horn. "All stand for Her Royal Majesty, Clarion, Queen of the Never Fairies, Ruler of all Pixie Hollow and the Winter Woods."

"But we were already standing," Vidia said dryly.

"You know what she meant," Tinker Bell whispered. Vidia just rolled her eyes at the goody two wings.

When the doors opened, Queen Clarion, in all her splendor, gently floated into the room, her regal bearing thoroughly unshakeable. She stood before the three young fairies under her charge and held a roll of papyrus scrolls in her hand. The pages were clipped together with a twig that was split down the middle and tied off on both ends with thin vines.

"Vidia, Tinker Bell, Silvermist, each of you has been brought here for your actions yesterday in the thistle and the mouse incidents."

The queen looked at the young water talent fairy and addressed her directly. "Silvermist, you are guilty of actions detrimental to yourself and to others."

Clarion then floated to the young tinker fairy. "Tinker Bell, you are guilty of actions detrimental to yourself and to others; for placing innocent bystanders in harm's way; for causing willful damage to Vidia's home and for willfully acting as a vigilante. You are also guilty of negligently placing the animals under our, and your, care in a dangerous, potentially deadly situation."

"Deadly? But I…." The queen raised her hand and silenced the young fairy.

The queen then floated to Vidia, whose body language clearly indicated she didn't care a whit about what the queen was going to say.

"Vidia, you are guilty of actions detrimental to yourself, to others and to all of Pixie Hollow; for placing innocent bystanders in harm's way; for the planning and willful destruction of Tinker Bell's home…."

Vidia smiled when she heard that charge.

The queen continued uninterrupted, "…for the willful planning and damage to several homes in Tinker's Nook; for the negligent damage of tinker wares in the courtyard of Tinker's Nook; for employing the thistles in willful acts of destruction; for seeking and planning revenge against an innocent third party; a blatant disregard for the well being of others; for thoughts of prejudice and acts of discrimination towards a talent guild; for persecution of an innocent third party and lastly, for possible sedition against the crown."

Vidia was stunned when she heard the last charge. "Sedition? You can't be serious, Ree."

Viola stepped in and berated Vidia, "You will address her majesty as Queen Clarion."

Vidia was steaming mad, the accusation of sedition or speaking towards rebellion or trying to incite rebellion, was just insane. Vidia now was certain that Clarion had it out for her.

* * *

**Next: Part III - Silvermist**


	14. Chapter 12b

**Chapter 12 - Part III: Silvermist**

* * *

Queen Clarion returned to the water talent, who clearly had a look of total confusion on her young face. "Do you know why you are here, Silvermist?" the queen asked.

"No, Your Highness, I don't," the water talent replied.

"In testimony to me, both you and Vidia revealed that you made a comment to her. I believe it was 'Out for a brisk morning drag?' Am I correct?

"You are, Your Highness," the water talent affirmed.

"I see. Now why did you say that, Silvermist?"

Sil tried to think about why she was motivated to say those words. It was embarrassing to admit to her queen that she was enjoying watching Vidia get dragged around by the thistles. Ultimately, she told the truth.

"So you believed Vidia was in a difficult situation? That she was actually being dragged, against her will, by the thistles?"

"Yes, Your Highness," she affirmed again.

"Why did you say it?"

After a brief pause, in which Silvermist looked over at Vidia, she answered, "Because Vidia has always been mean and nasty to me and the other water fairies. And I remembered what happened when we were set to take spring to the mainland and she admitted to setting up Tinker Bell to catch the thistles. I thought she was being very awful to her."

"I see. And you thought that by making fun of Vidia's predicament you would undo all of her nastiness?"

"Uh…, no."

"Did you think it would undo the damage caused at springtime?"

"No."

"Did you think it would improve Vidia's alleged difficult situation?"

"No, Your Highness."

"So why did you say that?"

Silvermist thought about it again. "Because it was fun."

"Fun? Fun to be as nasty as Vidia?" the queen asked.

Silvermist was struck by that notion. It had never occurred to her that she was acting just like Vidia. "I…I just wanted her to know that we didn't appreciate being treated so badly by her?"

"And do you think you made that clear when you said 'Out for a brisk morning drag?'"

Silvermist thought about the question and had only one conclusion, "No. No, I didn't. I was just being rude… to have fun at her expense."

"I see. Now your complaint against Vidia was that she willfully knocked you off your feet and into the water, is that correct?"

"Yes, Your Highness," the water talent affirmed once more.

"Did she do this before or after you made your comment?"

"After."

"Do you think your nasty comment to Vidia may have been why she knocked you into the water?"

"Oh, I know it was. She was just being mean!" Silvermist glared at Vidia when she answered.

"After you had said something nasty to her?"

"Yes, after I said what I…, oh," finally Silvermist understood. "She was mean to me because I was mean to her."

"That is correct," the queen confirmed.

"Vidia is responsible for her own actions. And you must be held responsible for yours. What you did yesterday provided a catalyst for Vidia to knock you into the water."

"She didn't have to knock me down," Silvermist said trying to defend herself.

"This is true. She didn't, but did you expect her to do otherwise?"

"No, I mean, Yes. I mean…, well I thought she was in too deeply with the thistles to do anything about it," Silvermist admitted, both to the queen and to herself.

"So you took unfair advantage of the situation to act badly thinking there would be no repercussions from Vidia because you were under the impression she was too involved with the thistles to be able to retaliate. Am I correct?"

The young water talent fairy hung her head in shame. "You are correct, Your Highness."

"Do you believe that Vidia would have done the same had you said nothing?"

"No she would not have," Silvermist had to admit.

"Could you have acted better in that situation? Maybe helped Vidia or called for help?"

"Yes, I could have, Your Highness."

"Silvermist, you are as responsible as Vidia for what happened at the brook," the queen admonished. "Your provoked Vidia, and she responded. It was a response that would not have occurred had you done nothing. Worse, you assumed that Vidia was in a difficult situation and you did not offer to help or seek out help on her behalf as a proper fairy should."

Water talents were more emotional than most fairies and were prone to crying when other talents would not. This was the case with Silvermist as tears began to stream down her cheeks.

"Silvermist, for your improper actions and inactions yesterday you are to be punished accordingly. First, you are not allowed to participate in any water talent work or recreational activities of any sort for the period of two weeks. Second, since the tinkers are behind by one full day and will also be occupied repairing their homes, you are to spend those two weeks driving the mouse carts to make deliveries for them. Do you understand this sentence?"

"Yes…, yes, Your Majesty, I do," Silvermist said through watering eyes.

"Very well, you are dismissed. Report immediately to Fairy Mary in Tinker's Nook to begin your mouse cart duties."

Silvermist bowed to her queen and flitted out of the room, still pouting a bit.

* * *

**Next Part IV: Tinker Bell**


	15. Chapter 12c

**Chapter 12 - Part IV: Tinker Bell**

* * *

Queen Clarion approached Tinker Bell who was already looking terribly frightened at what might befall her. The queen wanted to take pity on the young tinker. She was the ingénue of Pixie Hollow, but naiveté could not excuse what she had done.

"Tinker Bell, you took the cart pulling mice and put them into Vidia's home. Why did you do this?"

The tinker fairy took one step forward, looked down and started making semi circles with one foot. "I…I wanted to get back at Vidia because she destroyed my house and possessions. Then she got me stuck in a tree, told me that she wanted me to be a failure, insulted my talent guild, compared me to a clumsy human and then paddled me for who I was."

"I see, but did she get you stuck in a tree?"

"Of course, she threw up leaves and got me to fly right into an old knot hole in a tree trunk."

"And how did she get you into that tree trunk? Did she force into it, or did you follow her?"

"I followed her. I followed her because I got so mad at her that I wanted to…"

"To what, Tinker Bell?" the queen pressed.

"I wanted to get back at what she had done to my house," Tinker Bell finally said. "She had us all convinced that what happened was an accident. But when I found out it was for real, that Vidia had destroyed my house on purpose and then tried to lie about it, I was really mad at her."

"So you followed Vidia of your own volition?" the queen asked. "No one forced you?"

"Yes."

"Good. And you got stuck in the tree trunk because you allowed yourself to be led there and Vidia swirled leaves to hide her intentions. Correct?"

"Yes."

"Vidia admitted that she wanted you to consider yourself a failure?"

"Yes."

"I see. Vidia, were you trying to destroy Tinker Bell's self confidence? Prevent her from reaching her full potential?"

Vidia, however, said nothing. Instead she just grunted, folded her arms over her chest and turned her back to Tinker Bell. Viola flitted right in front of Vidia and going to nose to nose with her demanded that the flyer answer the question.

"Okay, yes. I wanted her to lose self confidence. I wanted to break her spirit. Doesn't really matter, tinkers aren't a real talent and she's not a true Never Fairy, anyway."

The queen returned her gaze to Tinker Bell.

"Tinker Bell, is this what she said to you? That tinkers were not a real talent and that you were not real fairy?"

"Yes, yes she did. She said that what tinkers do did not require magic."

"And she insisted that she was better than you and demanded you admit to that, is this correct?"

"Yes, Your Highness, and then she spanked me like a human child to 'put me in my place,' as she put it" Tinker Bell added.

"And you thought this gave you sufficient reason to seek payback against her? To put mice in her home?"

"Well, yeah!" Tinker Bell answered. "She took away my home, my work, my dignity…"

"But did she take your dignity, Tinker Bell?" the queen asked.

"She hit me on my tushy with a chunk of wood," the tinker replied.

"Tinker Bell, dignity is something you possess and cannot be taken away by another fairy. Only you can lose it by what you do. No matter what she did, Vidia did not take your dignity. You lost it when you lost your temper, chased after her, allowed yourself to be captured and sought revenge afterwards," Clarion instructed her. "Dignity is your poise and self-respect. It is defined by how you act on a daily basis and how you react to what goes on around you."

Tinker Bell lowered her head in shame. This was never fully explained to her before now. Perhaps because it was assumed that she would conduct herself with distinction since most other fairies did so without the necessity of instruction. Tinker Bell was now made well aware of what it meant to conduct her affairs with proper seemliness and would be expected to follow through accordingly in the future.

The queen continued to berate Tinker Bell as she now moved to her actions with the mice. "Tinker Bell, you placed the mice in Vidia's home as an act of vigilantism. You sought justice through an act of revenge. Did you not trust your queen to dispense justice in a proper and timely manner?"

The tinker fairy was taken aback by the queen's description of her actions. She had never considered it in this light. Did she believe that Clarion wouldn't or couldn't deal with the crime properly? No, the queen could deal with Vidia.

"No, Your Highness," Tinker Bell said. "I trust you completely."

"But you still put the mice in Vidia's home."

"Yes."

"Why? If you trust me so completely then…"

"Because I wanted to teach that home wrecker a lesson she would never forget. Because I wanted her to know what it was like to lose everything the way I did," Tinker Bell said angrily at Vidia.

"Isn't that my area of responsibility?"

"Well…, yeah, I suppose it is," Tinker Bell said, this time rather quietly.

"Then I ask you again, did you not trust your queen to dispense justice properly and in a timely manner?"

Tinker Bell had to reflect on her action, but came to the same conclusion. "Yes, I trust you."

"Then did you do it because you thought it would make you feel good?"

"Yes. Yes, that's it. It made me feel good to get back at Vidia," Tinker Bell replied, this time with relish.

Queen Clarion could only shake her had in despair. She sighed before speaking again. "Tinker Bell, what would happen if every fairy and sparrow man were allowed to take revenge on any pixie who offended them?"

"Well, they wouldn't do it for little things-,"

"Did you not hear what happened between Silvermist and Vidia?"

Tinker Bell stopped to think how minor and petty they had been. "But its Vidia, she brings out the worst in a fairy."

"Tinker Bell, there have always been arguments among friends in Pixie Hollow, even long before you arrived," Clarion said. "If any fairy were allowed to seek retribution how long do think it would be before our harmonious community fell into lawlessness and disorder? And don't you think it would prevent us from bringing the seasons to the mainland?"

"I see what you mean, Queen Clarion," Tinker Bell admitted. "But it was just a harmless prank to teach her a lesson."

"Oh, but it wasn't harmless, Tinker Bell," the queen continued. "Some of the mice you brought to Vidia's home suffered terribly."

Tinker Bell was stunned. "How?"

"Vidia began to yell and scream to get them out of her home, but the mice became frightened," the queen told the tinker fairy. "Cheddar tried to climb on some furniture, fell over and broke his paw."

"Oh no," Tinker Bell gasped.

"Monty accidentally bit his brother's tail; several mice ate her clothing and got tummy aches and many suffered scratches and bruises as they scampered trying to get out of the tiny space."

"Will they get better?" Tinker Bell asked.

"Yes, they will. But the animal healers are not so sure about Roquefort. He tried to eat an acorn cup. It got stuck deep in his throat and he nearly choked to death."

Tinker Bell started to tear up. "I…, I didn't, how is he doing?"

"You will find out soon enough, Tinker Bell."

The tinker fairy could barely hold back her crying. "I…, I didn't think anything would happen to them while they were in there, Your Highness."

"No, Tinker Bell, you didn't think. You were so consumed with anger and a desire for retaliation that you put your our mice, and your friends, into harm's way. Now do you understand why there is no place for revenge in Pixie Hollow?"

"Yes, I do, Your Highness," Tinker Bell said. She was no longer able to hold back and started to cry.

"Tinker Bell. Tinker Bell, look at me." The tinker fairy looked up, tears running down her cheeks. "You are to be punished according to your crimes. First, you are confined to Never Land until the end of the summer season. Second, you are to help Vidia return the thistles to Needlepoint Meadow. Third, you will spend your free time caring for the mice until they are recovered and you are to spend one month mucking out the mouse stables. Do you understand your sentence?"

The tinker fairy sniffed and wiped the tears from her eyes. "Yes, Queen Clarion, I do."

"Very well, report immediately to the mouse stables. Your mice friends are recovering there. Tomorrow you will begin helping Vidia to capture the thistles."

The tinker fairy fluttered out of the audience chamber. She was crying terribly as she left for the mouse stables.

* * *

**Next: Part V - Vidia**


	16. Chapter 12d

**Whew! Finally! When I first conceived this story, it was supposed to have a simple resolution.  
When I added Vidia's apparent discrimination, I did so to add complexity to her character and provide motivation for some of her misdeeds.  
It also had the unfortunate effect of making this finale much more difficult to write.  
When the queen began to ask why Vidia was the way she was, I had no answer initially.  
Then I remembered a major event in the first film and used it to provide a reason for Vidia being who she was.  
This lead to a huge left turn that nearly threw a monkey wrench into this and the next story, but I got it figured out...,I think.  
That explains why this chapter took so long to write and post.  
**

**So, here it is the sentencing of Vidia, which unfortunately, despite being so dang long, is only halfway through.  
It promises to be explosive, scandalous, outrageous, incredible and will likely knock your socks off..., or not.  
**

* * *

**Chapter 12 - Part V: Vidia **

Queen Clarion was well aware of Vidia's superiority complex and how often she belittled other fairies and sparrow men to reinforce her own sense of supremacy. These incidents, however, were unrelated and generally isolated moments. She did have a history of disparaging entire talent guilds as she spoke of the pre-eminence of her own; however, never before had Vidia used such inflammatory language or spoke in terms of wholesale discrimination against any specific talent. Her characterization of the tinker fairies as not being real fairies, that they were little more than clumsy humans with wings, and didn't use magic like the other talents did, was provocative at best and seditious at worst.

For several minutes the queen merely stared at Vidia, occasionally rereading the charges against her and reviewing what the flyer had said to Tinker Bell, both during her testimony and a moment ago while Queen Clarion was sentencing the tinker fairy. Leading Silvermist and Tinker Bell to realize their mistakes was easy. Both were young, intelligent and willing to understand their mistakes and accept their penalties. Vidia, on the other hand, was a different matter. She could be obstinate, preferred to deflect blame to others and would ignore authority whenever it suited her. Clarion, however, gamely decided to try anyway.

"Well? Aren't you going to do something? Aren't you going to kick me out of Pixie Hollow or something?" Vidia said defiantly.

"Good question, Vidia. What am I to do with you?" the queen responded. "You plotted for days to destroy Tinker Bell's home and successfully carried it out. You also led everyone to believe it was an accident. When found out, you ran. Tinker Bell followed you in a fit of justifiable anger. Then you lured her into a fallen tree where you captured her, humiliated her, beat her with tree bark and insinuated that she and her talent guild were not real talents or true Never Fairies. Tinker Bell boiled over with fury and filled your house with mice in retaliation. You in turn responded by starting a fist fight with her in Tinker's Nook. Why?"

"She got me into trouble. I wound up chasing those stupid weeds when she was the one who wiped out all the spring preparations," Vidia said.

"Did you tell her that capturing thistles was considered impossible?"

"No, if she is supposed to be such a great talent, let her figure it out," Vidia spat.

"And did you tell her that she couldn't change her talent?"

"No. Why should I bother, I'm not her keeper. Isn't that supposed to be your job? Or Fairy Mary's?"

Queen Clarion sighed before continuing. "We protect and advise each other, Vidia. You may not be her keeper, but you are old enough to be wise counsel to her. Yet you refused to offer any when she came to you for help."

"I still don't see how it's my job," Vidia sneered.

"It is everyone's task to perform, Vidia. Like it or not," the queen said restating what Vidia should have already known.

Vidia just harrumphed.

"You knowingly and willfully took advantage of Tinker Bell in her moment of need. She had a crisis of confidence and you exploited it to your own ends. To wit: undermine and crush her spirit so you could maintain your position as the greatest and most talented fairy in Pixie Hollow. It nearly worked. But Tinker Bell was able to invent machines that allowed the spring fairies to bring the season on time. You, however, tried to obstruct her, in point of fact all of us, from employing those same inventions. That is why you were made to take the thistles to Needlepoint Meadow."

Vidia said nothing. Her brow was furrowed deeply and she kept her arms folded tightly across her chest.

"As I understand it, shortly after she arrived Tinker Bell tried to introduce herself to you in friendship. You responded by turning her way and belittling her and the tinker talent guild. You tried to convince her there was no good reason to take pride in her talent. Why did you do this? Was it because Tinker Bell's talent glow was brighter than yours? Could you not accept that another fairy was more talented than you?"

"She's not more talented than I am because she's a tinker and tinkers aren't real fairies. They don't use magic like real Never Fairies," was all Vidia would say.

"Is that what you try to tell yourself so you won't feel like second best? Is that how you justified what you did to Tinker Bell and her home?"

Once again the flyer held her tongue.

"This is very troubling, Vidia," the queen said. "It troubles me greatly when you speak of discrimination against any talent."

"I'm not discriminating. They just aren't deserving of being called Never Fairies, that's all. They aren't like us."

"That is the very essence of discrimination, Vidia," the queen said. "Why do you think this way? What is it about a tinker that makes you dislike them so much?"

"Like I told you, because they don't use magic, they don't have innate ability and their 'talent' is mindless work that any fairy, or clumsy human, could do," Vidia replied with a bit of agitation.

"And how did you come to this conclusion?"

"Well just look at them. They are nothing like you or I. I spent years watching them and could never figure out what magic they used or if they had a specific skill set. They just make pots, pans, kettles, bowls, satchels, baskets and what not. I mean, it's not like we couldn't do that ourselves."

"Did you ever consider taking the initiative to ask them to explain their talent?"

"Why bother, it's just swinging a hammer or using a saw," Vidia said, uncrossing her arms and mimicking each tool. "I've used both of those before. I didn't exactly have a panic attack when I picked up either one."

"Did you ever try to work like a tinker? Perform their tasks or create as they do?"

"No, but then why would I? They do the menial labor, we do the important stuff."

The queen shook her head in disgust. "This is incendiary, Vidia. Do you actually believe that the tinkers are inferior creatures and not worthy of equal treatment?"

"I didn't say that," Vidia said, not liking how the queen was rewording her opinions.

"Oh, but you did. Or just where did you believe that kind of thinking would lead? If they are not true Never Fairies then does it not logically follow that they should not be treated equally under our laws? Isn't that correct?"

The fast flyer said nothing. Instead she just crossed her arms again and glowered at nobody, anger clearly building inside her.

"What if your opinions found favor in Pixie Hollow?" Clarion started

"Nice," Vidia interjected.

"What if your opinions found favor and were employed to their logical conclusion?" the queen asked. "What kind of changes do you think would have to be made and institutionalized to create your idealized version of Pixie Hollow? Loss of equality? Loss of rights? Persecution? Enslavement? Banishment? Where would it end?"

"Hey, I have never said anything like that! Don't put words in my mouth!" Vidia said, pointing irately at the queen.

"Didn't you say during your testimony: 'tinker fairies should be kept in their hole in the ground'?"

"Yeah, but I didn't mean all that other stuff you said!" the flyer spat back.

"Exactly what do you think 'keeping the tinker fairies in their hole in the ground' means, Vidia?" the queen asked.

Vidia just stood there; arms crossed once more, her brow still deeply furrowed. She refused to ponder the question because she disliked being challenged by anyone, even Queen Clarion.

"It means that their rights must be taken away," the queen explained. "When you say that a group of fairies should be regarded as inferior creatures, 'clumsy humans with wings' as you stated, then not only are you justifying their oppression, but you must also persecute them and deny their natural born status as free Never Fairies. And if they are to be held captive to do menial labor on demand then you have made them slaves."

Vidia, arms still crossed tightly over her chest, turned away from the queen. Viola moved to force Vidia to face Clarion once more, but the queen waved her arm and Viola returned to her position at the queen's side.

Queen Clarion thought for a moment as she tried to get through to her wayward flyer. As the purple clad fairy stood there, Clarion noticed her extra long wings which fast flyers needed for their speed. "Vidia, what if it was decided that the lengthy wings of a fast flyer made your entire guild different?"

"They do make us different," Vidia said. She started pointing towards the door and the outside. "They make us superior to the other guilds because we can command forces of nature more powerful than any other nature talent in Pixie Hollow."

"What if it was decided that those extra long wings made you different enough to be considered something other than Never Fairies? What if it were declared that fast flyers were not real Never Fairies? Not deserving of the same freedoms and protections under our laws. Would you like to have your freedoms taken from you? Would you want to spend your life in forced labor all because of the size of your wings?"

Vidia just laughed. "Never going to happen, your highness, we're the best guild in Pixie Hollow. If the other talents can't accept that it is because they are too inferior to realize just how superior we really are."

"And the tinkers?"

"Are the most inferior of them all," Vidia stated gleefully.

Queen Clarion sighed. "When did you start to think this way? When Tinker Bell arrived? Is that why you hate her so much?"

"No. I can't remember when…," Vidia said, her voice trailing off a bit at the end.

The queen stared at Vidia and cocked one eyebrow. "There had to be a time when you started thinking this way. When was it?"

"Okay, fine, it was not long after I arrived," Vidia snarled, clearly agitated by this question.

The queen was shocked to hear this news. Her best fast flyer a bigot her entire life? Was it possible? "So you believe that the tinker guild is so inferior that they should be treated differently from all the other guilds?"

"I just think that we shouldn't consider them real Never Fairies, that's all," Vidia said, restating her previous claim.

"Because they do not use magic in their work, do not possess innate ability and that they perform menial tasks that any fairy could perform?"

"That is it exactly."

"And you would want to see this viewpoint adopted by the other fairies of Pixie Hollow?"

"Absolutely," Vidia replied.

"As well as the queen of Pixie Hollow?"

Vidia thought about that for a while. "Would be nice."

"No Vidia, I cannot believe that my fairies would ever allow our current state of harmonious affairs to become an _ancien re̕gime_, but I also cannot stand by in good conscience and do nothing, either," the queen told the fast flyer. "All Never Fairies of Pixie Hollow are equal in the eyes of the law and in the eyes of their queen and I intend to keep it that way. There will be no après moi, le deluge, because of inaction. I am going to nip this in the bud right away."

"So what are going to do to me? Make me wash the Pixie Dust Tree, leaf by leaf? Build Tinker Bell another house? Put in my confinement for the rest of my life? You did say that I was inciting rebellion against you."

The queen thought for a moment before speaking again. "Are you inciting others to change how we treat the tinkers? To institutionalize their discrimination? Their persecution? Their enslavement?"

"No. Let those green collar fairies do whatever they want. I just can't understand why you and everyone else in Pixie Hollow want to consider them a talent? They aren't a talent and they certainly aren't true Never Fairies. They're just manual labor. When compared to the rest of us, tinkers shouldn't matter."

The queen listened to Vidia's sometimes contradictory statements. It was frustrating because Clarion was unsure if Vidia clearly understood what she was saying or if the fast flyer was merely playing head games with her. Either way, Clarion eventually came to the conclusion that Vidia was not a threat to the Pixie Hollow status quo. She had neither the resources to rebel against the crown nor could she ever garner enough support to accomplish such a monumental task. Vidia had effectively isolated herself from the Pixie Hollow community with her snobbish behavior and bullying tactics. Furthermore, no one would follow her ideas anyway. The Never Fairies of Pixie Hollow adored their queen and would never turn against Clarion and her gentle rule.

"Then the charge of sedition is dropped," the queen said. "But I do think it is time you learned about the tinkers."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

Vidia, the fast flying fairy, you will be punished in accordance with your crimes," the queen began.

"Well, it's about time," Vidia injected.

The queen took in a deep, calming breath before proceeding. "Vidia, you are confined to Never Land until the end of the summer season."

"What?!"

"Silence while Queen Clarion sentences you for your crimes," Viola announced to the flyer.

"Oh shove it up you horn," Vidia grumbled.

The queen continued, "You will finish your previous task and lead the remaining thistles to Needlepoint Meadow with Tinker Bell. Upon completion you will spend one month mucking out the mouse stables, working alongside Tinker Bell."

"Why do you keep sticking me with that lousy tinker?!" Vidia demanded.

Viola blew her horn and cried out, "SILENCE!"

"So you will come to know her better," the queen replied. Vidia grumbled under her breath. Clarion went on to complete her sentencing of the fast flyer. "At the end of one month, you will report to Tinker's Nook where you will learn what it means to be a tinker."

Vidia exploded when she heard that. "ABSOLUTELY NOT! I WILL NOT WORK ALONGSIDE THEM."

"You will do as you are told, Vidia," the queen scolded.

"BUT THEY ARE NOT REAL NEVER FAIRIES, THEY DON'T MATTER."

"Then I will ask you again, Vidia, if tinkers do not matter then why did you find it necessary to do all of these terrible things to Tinker Bell? Why did you want to break her spirit and then force her to state she was inferior to you?"

Vidia refused to answer. Viola demanded that Vidia answer the question, but the flyer held her tongue. Viola blew her horn, but Vidia grabbed the horn right out of Viola's mouth causing the summoner to inadvertently spit on the flyer. Vidia then tossed the horn to one side in frustration.

"Vidia!" the queen called her out. "Pick up Viola's horn and return it to her immediately."

Vidia just crossed her arms, harrumphed and did nothing else.

"Vidia, now!"

The flyer groused, but did as instructed. "Here's your stupid horn," she grumbled as the flyer returned the instrument to Viola.

"Now answer the question," the queen demanded. "Why would you persecute Tinker Bell and denigrate her guild if they did not matter?"

"Like I said before, because you and everyone else on this island think they matter. Well they don't, they just don't."

The queen moved to Vidia and questioned her further. "Why do they not matter? Because you believe they do not use magic or have innate ability?"

"Well, duh. That's what I've been telling you all day today." Vidia grumbled and growled.

"I grow weary of your circular answers, Vidia," the queen said. She then tried another way to get the information she wanted. "You said that your opinions about the tinker fairies began shortly after you arrived. Is that correct?"

Vidia sort of nodded.

"I will take that as a yes."

"Whatever."

"Who taught you to think this way?!" Clarion asked, a touch of frustration in her voice.

"You don't want to know. You won't want to know," Vidia replied.

"I want to know, Vidia," Clarion responded. "Now who taught you to think this way?"

"You'll call me a liar," Vidia said.

"The truth is the truth, Vidia. Tell me who instructed you to denigrate tinker fairies."

"Will you punish her like you're trying to punish me?!" Vidia asked angrily.

"I will," the queen replied, finally able to get to the truth of the matter. Now Clarion would be able to get to the root of Vidia's contempt for tinkers and the queen could begin the process of reforming the flyer.

"Ha, you won't," was what the flyer said in reply. "You won't because it is someone very close to you. Someone you are unwilling to punish and that makes you a liar!"

Viola was about to step in, but the queen brushed her away.

"How dare you call your queen a liar, Vidia," Clarion reprimanded.

"Because you are. Do you really want to know who trained me to dislike the tinkers?"

"Yes."

"The truth?"

"Yes!"

"Can you handle the truth?"

"I am the queen, I can handle any truth," Clarion demanded, irritated by Vidia's questions.

"Do you promise to punish her as you have punished me?"

"I already said I would, Vidia, now get on with it."

"Well, you won't, and do you know why?"

The queen decided to stop playing Vidia's game. Clarion turned away from the flyer, but the purple clad fairy continued.

"Because the fairy who taught me, and taught me well, _was you_!" Vidia said loudly.

Clarion turned around sharply and glared at the fast flyer. "I did no such thing," she said, trying to keep her regal composure in the face of Vidia's malicious lies.

"Ha, I knew you would say something like that. I knew you wouldn't be able to handle the real truth," Vidia said, a scowl on her face.

"Very, well," the queen said, maintaining full composure. "How did I teach you to have such contempt for the tinker talents? Please enlighten me."

Vidia grinned. "Because you wouldn't let the tinkers fly to the mainland."

The queen was blindsided by Vidia's simple answer.

"When I first arrived all the talents of Pixie Hollow were allowed to fly to the mainland except one: the tinkers," Vidia said. "I couldn't figure out why. So I asked a few fairies and each one told me the same thing, 'Tinkers don't go to the mainland.' Plain and simple. Well, that wasn't a reason. And yet, there was this law that you upheld. There had to be a reason. So I decided to observe the tinkers in their little ditch in the dirt. Do you know what I saw? No magic. No talent. Manual labor that any fairy could do."

The queen listened carefully to every word. Vidia liked to pass blame to others and no doubt she was trying to do it again.

"But then I wondered what if what they do is special in some way? They used a saw, so I took one and cut down a flower. I had no problem doing that. They pounded stakes into the ground with a hammer, so I pounded in stakes into the ground with a hammer. Same result, no problem. They tied knots, so I tied few knots and again I could do what they did. There was nothing special about the work they did. So I kept wondering why they were not allowed, _by law_, to go the mainland."

Vidia, smiled even more as she continued her story. "If all the fairies and all the talent guilds are supposed to be equal in the eyes of the law and in the eyes of their queen, then why were the tinkers not allowed to fly to the mainland? Because for some reason only she knew the queen deemed them to be _unequal and inferior_ in the eyes of the law, that's why!"

"I did not," Queen Clarion protested.

"Then why couldn't they fly to the mainland with all the other talents?"

"Tinker talents never expressed a desire to go to the mainland before Tinker Bell," the queen answered. "Their work has always been here."

"NO! Not going because you don't want to is a choice," Vidia shouted back. "Not going because your queen says you can't is not a choice. Being confined to an island by law to perform forced labor is not a choice!" Vidia went out of her way to throw the queen's words right back at her.

"You accused me of wanting to institutionalize discrimination. Well, I can't do that. I don't have the authority. But you're the queen, and you do have that authority. Well, guess what? You did just that! _You_ institutionalized discrimination of the tinker fairies by upholding that law! And you also institutionalized their captivity on this island. But it gets better; you convinced the entire population of Pixie Hollow that your institutionalized discrimination was proper and even lawful. The queen can do that, I can't. I wasn't discriminating, you were. You upheld a law that implied that one talent guild was expressly less equal than all the others, which means _you believed_ that they were expressly less equal than the other talent guilds, too. And you violated the rule of Pixie Hollow that states 'that all fairies are equal in the eyes of the law.' That makes you the criminal, not me."

"That's right, your highness," Vidia sneered, "_you're the criminal_. You should be the one mucking out the mouse stables, not me. You should be the one chasing down thistles all day, not me. You are a bigot, a liar, a propagandist and a hypocrite. I saw through the veil of your fraudulently criminal administration long ago. That's why I don't listen to you, why I never listened to you, because I know what you are. But I'm the one living in that scraggly tree way out in the middle of nowhere, while you, the criminal guilty of centuries of enforced discrimination and confinement of an entire talent guild, get to live in the opulent Pixie Dust Tree enjoying all the perks of being queen. _And I'm sick of it. I am sick of your lies and hypocrisy. And I am sick of how poorly you treat me. And I am sick of you punishing me when I am just following in the spirit of the law you upheld for so long. You made me what I am, and then you rejected me. You betrayed me for being what you wanted._ **_It's not fair. It is not fair and I am not going to take it anymore!_**"

Vidia screamed as she bolted out of the room in extreme anger.

* * *

Queen Clarion was shaken by Vidia's tirade. Was she really responsible for institutionalizing discrimination against an entire talent guild? Did she uphold a law she knew expressly violated the equality of the tinkers? Was she responsible for teaching every fairy to accept this discrimination as normal and acceptable?

Queen Clarion stumbled, not flew, up the stairs to her private chambers. Viola flew over to help he queen. Clarion had never been challenged like this before. She had never been accused of being a criminal. And now she would be forced to consult with her advisors. How would they respond to Vidia's accusations? Would they dismiss them outright? Or would they agree and look disparagingly on Clarion? Could there even be a vote of no confidence essentially stripping her of her crown and her authority? That would mean a new queen would arrive to replace Clarion.

_I have no choice_, she thought. _I have to answer her accusations, but I'll need to consult and reflect. This is a frightening challenge that I cannot avoid._

* * *

Vidia, raced home to the Sour Plum Tree and threw open the door. In her anger she had forgotten that the mice Tinker Bell brought had thoroughly damaged her house beyond use. She could not occupy it until it was repaired. All of her broken, chewed and shredded personal items were lying in piles on the floor. Vidia was so angry she reached down, grabbed a handful and started throwing them at the wall, screaming as she did. "It's not fair she can get away with all of it and I can't!"

But Vidia found no satisfaction here. Instead, she raced off to what she believed was the source of all her troubles: those lousy tinker fairies in Tinker's Nook.

* * *

Vidia, flying as fast as she could, roared into Tinker's Nook, grabbed the first thing she saw, a large twig, and began swinging it angrily at piles of ready to deliver tinker wares, screaming out, "It's not fair!" with every swing.

She knocked over a stack of acorn bowls. Then she scattered a pile of pots and pans bound for the kitchen that had just been repaired and polished. In the courtyard she saw a cart nearly full of items that were to be delivered. Silvermist was sitting in the driver's seat and was waiting to leave as soon as the wagon was full. Vidia screamed and charged at the cart.

Silvermist looked over and saw Vidia, flying at the cart and yelling.

"Vidia? What are you doing?" Silvermist flew up from the cart as soon as Vidia struck it with her bodyr.

Fast flyers are not known for their strength. They are slender and built for speed, but Vidia was so furious that massive amounts of adrenaline were coursing through her body, and after great effort and strain she flipped the cart over, spilling out its contents onto the courtyard floor.

"Vidia, what has gotten into you?" Fairy Mary asked. But as before Vidia didn't want to listen. She only screamed and yelled while occasionally bellowing, "It's not fair that she can do this to me!" The fast flyer then flew into the workshop where she continued her onslaught. Vidia took a hammer and started smashing stacks of acorns and flinging unfinished woven baskets everywhere. The tinkers in the shop flitted away from their workstations in fear. Finally, Vidia became so enraged that she unleashed a huge whirlwind inside the shop. The spinning tornado took anything and everything not nailed down and tossed it into the walls, across tables and high up into the air. No longer able to sustain the whirlwind, she then took another tinker hammer and started pounding on the tables, yelling, "I'm not a criminal, she is," with each swing.

Vidia kept moving around, pounding tables, chairs, walls, anything in the hopes of releasing all of her frustrations that had been pent up for most of her life. She landed at one table; beat it mercilessly with the hammer before succumbing to physical and emotional exhaustion. She dropped the hammer and flopped onto the worktable which, ironically, belonged to Tinker Bell.

"It's just not fair!" Vidia kept saying. "I'm only doing what she always did, but I'm the one who has to pay for it. It's not fair! Not fair!"

The fast flyer began to cry as she continued her tirade. Two scout talents, whom Fairy Mary had summoned, flew into the workshop area and slowly approached the fast flyer. They brought with them something rarely ever used: wing-cuffs. It was a device that cuffed a fairy or sparrow man's wings and tied around the waist, effectively locking the wings to the back. It prevented a fairy under arrest from flying away.

When one approached and touched Vidia's arm, she reacted and flung her arm saying, "Don't touch me!"

"Vidia, the fast flyer you are under arrest in the name of the queen," another announced.

"You can't arrest me!" she told them. "I don't recognize the queen's authority. She has no moral authority to do anything to me!" Vidia yelled at them. They tried several times to take hold of her, but she kept swinging at them with her arms and fists. One of them finally grabbed the flyer and the other was able to secure the wing cuffs and to it to her waist. Vidia was effectively grounded. The two scout talents then forcibly took Vidia out of Tinker's Nook and back to the confinement area to await a new audience with the queen.

* * *

**Okay. So do you think that Vidia is correct in her assessment?  
Is Queen Clarion responsible for Vidia being the way she is?**  
**Or do you think that Vidia is terribly mistaken? **

**Also, do you think I went too far with this chapter?  
Or could this be a reasonable explanation for Vidia's attitude?**  
**I could use all the feedback on this chapter I can get.**

**Thank you for being so patient.**


	17. Chapter 12e

**Chapter 12e - Part VI: The Conscience of the Queen / Tinker Bell at the Stables**

* * *

Queen Clarion sat at her desk, her head supported by her hands. She replayed Vidia's words over and over again in her thoughts.

After each time the queen would ask herself the same questions. _Did I discriminate against the tinkers by upholding that law? Was I responsible for turning Vidia into who she is now? Did I believe that the tinkers were unequal or even inferior? Why was the law ever written in the first place? Why couldn't I recognize that it was a bad law and overturn it?_

While the queen was searching for answers she called in Viola and asked her to gather the four ministers of the seasons. She also asked the summoner talent to fetch Fairy Mary. If anyone could tell Clarion if the tinkers were treated unfairly and unequally Fairy Mary could and she most certainly would.

"Your highness," Viola stated, "Fairy Mary is waiting to see you."

The queen was surprised by this news. Why would the tinker overseer come to see her? "Show her in, Viola."

The summoner left the room and a moment later the plump Fairy Mary flitted into the room. The overseer bowed, "Your Highness," she said offering her fealty.

"Why are you here, Mary?" the queen asked her oldest and best friend.

Fairy Mary landed softly on the floor and with a serious, almost ashen look to her face began to speak.

"Vidia returned to Tinker's Nook not long ago and in a fit of anger destroyed all our work this morning, smashing stacks of acorn bowls, throwing baskets and satchels and she even overturned a cart that almost ready to make its delivery for the day. Poor Silvermist barely escaped without harm."

The queen was stunned.

"Then she flew into the workshop and used her wind talent to toss everything about," Fairy Mary told her. "The workshop is a bloomin' mess. And all throughout her tirade she kept yelling, 'It's not fair' and 'I'm not the criminal, she is.' I don't know what got into her head, but she had to be restrained and was taken away in wing cuffs."

"Oh dear," the queen gasped. "It maybe my fault, Fairy Mary."

"Your fault? Now that's a laugh," the tinker overseer said with a chuckle. "When has that fast flyer ever needed a reason to act like a brazen lunatic?"

Queen Clarion nearly shrunk when she heard Fairy Mary's description of Vidia. _Brazen lunatic_? Was that even fair to Vidia?

Clarion rose from her chair and stepped slowly over to the large oval windows that overlooked Springtime Square, with the Winter Woods framed in the distance by the opening. She took a deep breath, let it out and waited for a moment before speaking again.

"Fairy Mary, I need to ask you something, and I want your full and honest opinion," the queen stated, feeling her self assurance melting away with every passing moment.

"If its advice you want, it's yours for the taking, Ree. You know that." Fairy Mary was one of the few fairies in Never Land who could refer to Queen Clarion as "Ree" without prefacing it with the title "Queen." It was a familiarity she had earned over centuries of loyal, dedicated friendship and trusted counsel.

"Mary, have you ever felt that you or your tinkers were being treated differently by me?" the queen asked.

Fairy Mary stood in silence for a moment. It was an odd question to be asked for sure. "Why, whatever do you mean, Your Highness? Different in what way?"

"Did you ever feel that the tinkers were treated unfairly? Or as inferior to the other talent guilds? As anything less than equals?"

"Inferior? Unequal? What brought this on?"

Clarion took in another deep breath. She was afraid this might harm her friendship with Fairy Mary.

"Vidia's outburst in Tinker's Nook…." The queen decided to restate her answer. "Vidia accused me of institutionalized discrimination against the tinker guild because I upheld the law that prevented any its members from leaving Never Land and flying to the mainland."

"What?"

"She also accused me of being a hypocrite for insisting that all fairies are equal in the eyes of the law while maintaining a rule she believes expressly declared the tinkers to be inferior and unequal."

"Now don't be ridiculous, Ree. Vidia will say anything to flout authority and you know it," Fairy Mary responded.

"But did you feel discriminated against? Oppressed or treated unfairly? That law specifically prevents tinkers and only tinkers from going to the mainland."

"Tinkers never wanted to go to the mainland until Tinker Bell came along," Fairy Mary stated.

"That's not the question, Fairy Mary. Did you or your tinkers ever feel as if you were being treated unfairly because that law singled out your talent guild?"

Fairy Mary didn't respond right way. She thought about what Clarion had asked and searched her feelings. The tinker supervisor finally answered, "No. I never felt treated unfairly."

"Do you think the law was unfair?" the queen asked.

"Well if I never felt treated badly I certainly wouldn't consider the law to be unfair. It was there for a reason."

"What reason?"

"Because tinkers weren't needed on the mainland, their work has always been here on Never Land."

"Are they needed now on the mainland?" the queen pressed further.

"No, of course not. There is nothing there for them to tinker," Fairy Mary replied.

"Then why did we overturn the law for Tinker Bell? Wouldn't the same reasoning still apply? If she isn't needed on the mainland then why was she allowed to fly there?"

"She saved spring; it was her reward for her ingenuity."

"Is that really enough to justify overturning a law that existed because her talent was not needed there?"

"Ree, why are you worrying yourself over all of this. It's just more of Vidia's nonsense."

"It most certainly is not nonsense," the queen said with a touch of agitation in her voice. "If she is right then I have committed a crime, a high crime that could force me to surrender my crown."

"Now you're the one talking nonsense. How could it cost you your crown?"

"No monarch may violate the main tenants of Pixie Hollow law which govern all residents of the Hollow, including its queen. The first is 'Do no harm.' The second is 'All fairies are equal under the law' and are to be treated as such by everyone including the ruling monarch. If I violated that tenant willfully I could be forced to give up my crown and a new queen would arrive shortly after."

"Ree you are not guilty of violating that tenant since none of the tinkers ever felt discriminated against," Fairy Mary insisted.

"The law doesn't say that it cannot be violated if the fairies in question don't feel treated unequally. It exists so that no fairy can be treated unequally, period."

"So how would you lose your crown, exactly?"

"If there is a unanimous vote of no confidence among the ministers I can be stripped of my crown and would live the rest of my life as a normal fairy."

"Poppycock," Fairy Mary said. "It would never happen."

Viola opened the door at that moment and announced, "The ministers are here, Queen Clarion."

"Please show them in, Viola."

* * *

When Tinker Bell arrived at the mouse stables she was, at first, not allowed inside. The animal talents who were tending to the injured mice didn't want her near their patients. She had lost their trust because she was responsible for the mice being injured, some seriously.

Fawn stepped in, though, and allowed Tinker Bell through.

"Queen Clarion wants her to tend to the mice and help them recover," she told the other animal talents and mice attendants.

"Tend to them? With what, a hammer?" One of the mouse milking talents barked in protest.

"That's enough," Fawn told all of the other fairies who were within earshot. "It's a ruling handed down by Queen Clarion herself. If you have a problem with it you can go and file a complaint with her."

That was all that needed to be said. The other animal and mouse milking talents returned to their work, though some complained and grumbled under their breaths.

Fawn led the tinker fairy to the stalls where the injured mice were being kept and cared for. Inside the first one was Monty and his brother Jack. While in Vidia's home Monty had inadvertently bitten his brother Jack's tail. The mouse's tail was wrapped in green leaf bandages and blood stains could be seen peeking through the outer wrapping.

"How is he doing," Tinker Bell asked.

"Jack will be fine," Fawn answered. "The bite wasn't too deep so he'll good as new pretty soon. He just needs time for it to heal. Mice need their tails to help maintain their balance, so until his heals he won't be able to pull any carts for a while."

The tinker fairy entered the stall and gently stroked the hair of both mice. "I'm sorry Jack. Sorry Monty. It's entirely my fault," Tinker Bell said in a soft voice. She gave each one a hug before moving on to the next stall.

"Cheddar is here," Fawn told her tinker friend. "He broke a paw when fell off of something, probably the sofa. He is going to recover, but he will need some therapy before he can get back to work."

"Therapy? Why?" Tinker Bell asked.

"See his paw, how it is wrapped up?" she said. Tinker Bell stepped in closely and saw that Cheddar's paw was heavily bandaged and a splint was used to immobilize the mouse's leg, ankle and foot.

"When an animal, even ones as smart as our mice, have an appendage immobilized for a long period of time they began to assume that the paw will always stay that way. They won't move it very much after the splint is removed. So Cheddar will need therapy to relearn to use his paw and walk like he did before."

"How long could that take?" Tinker Bell asked her animal talent friend.

"Well, it depends on how much therapy they get, how receptive and intelligent the animal is and how good the animal talent is who is tending to them. But it will likely take anywhere from nine to fifteen weeks before he we even consider letting him pull a cart."

"That long?" Tinker Bell fell silent for a moment. She wondered if Cheddar would ever walk the same ever again. She knew Fawn was an excellent animal talent and could do wonders with her charges, but Cheddar's recovery still depended on so many factors. Tinker Bell once again stroked the mouse's fur, hugged him and whispered apologies to Cheddar. "Don't worry. I'll take good care of you," she told the furry mouse. "Once that splint is off I'll take you for walks and we'll get that foot back in good order. Okay?"

Cheddar studied the little tinker fairy before chattering and nodding his head in approval. Tinker Bell laughed a bit, the first time in a long while. Then she hugged the mouse again and kissed him on his head before leaving to see to the other mice.

Fawn then directed Tinker Bell to some other stalls which contained mice who suffered from ill stomachs. They were being fed something to make them pass out what was making them sick. For once Tinker Bell was glad she would be wrangling thistles tomorrow instead of having muck out _that_ nasty stuff. Ick!

In a few other stalls were the mice with the scratches. The animal and healing talents had done an excellent job of patching them up. Tinker Bell could still see bloody spots on their fur where the scratches had bled. It made her feel queasy because they wouldn't be in this situation, none of them would, if she hadn't lost her temper and put the animals inside Vidia's home.

"C'mon, Tinker Bell," Fawn said tugging at her arm. "Let's go see Roquefort."

She dreaded hearing that name because of what the queen had told her earlier. How Roquefort had tried to eat an acorn cup and nearly choked to death. Tinker Bell felt ever so small for what she had done as she was being paraded through the stables and coming face to face with the results of her own stupidity. And now she was being led to Roquefort, the mouse who suffered the worse, who nearly died by her actions. The queen had not been very specific about Roquefort's condition, only that the tinker fairy would find out soon enough. What Tinker Bell had heard could not have prepared her for what she saw when the door to the stall was opened.

* * *

"Absurd, Your Highness, absolutely absurd," Redleaf, the Minister of Autumn told Clarion.

"Is it, minister?" she replied.

"Of course it is," Hyacinth, the Minister of Spring injected.

"There are other talents in Pixie Hollow who have no reason to fly to the mainland and who have never expressed a desire to visit," the queen pointed out. "Yet there have never been any laws enacted to prevent them from going to the mainland. The tinker fairies were specifically singled out and I need to know why."

The four ministers stared at each other. Their queen was clearly upset by this. She had described to them Vidia's outburst during her sentencing and the accusations she had hurled at the queen. Clarion had to know if she was guilty of a high crime. However, as she regained more and more of her composure the queen began to return to form and was demanding to know why the law was passed. If it was for purposes of discrimination and oppression then she could be held accountable for continuing to uphold a law that clearly violated the second most sacred principle of Pixie Hollow law.

"I will have The Keeper search his archives at once," Snowflake, the Minister of Winter said. "If there is any fairy or sparrow man who can provide an answer it will be him."

"Thank you, minister," the queen replied. "I will search through my private library in the event one of the previous monarch's of Pixie Hollow left us an answer."

"It isn't in the Book of Laws?" Sunflower asked?

"The law is contained there, but no explanation for its existence," Clarion replied.

"We will find that explanation for you," Redleaf reassured her. "No leaf or pebble shall be left unturned."

"Thank you ministers," Clarion said. Being able to take definitive action left her feeling more in control of this difficult situation. "Once we have our answer then we can grapple with the next issue, whether or not I am guilty of a high crime against the fairies of Pixie Hollow."

* * *

Tears began to stream down Tinker Bell's cheeks as she saw Roquefort lying on his side. He was asleep, his mouth was wide open and he had a tendency to twitch with each labored breath. She almost wanted to leave the stall and try to forget what she had just seen.

"What…, what…,"

"That acorn cup he tried to swallow got stuck in his throat," Fawn explained in a voice that quivered with pity for the poor creature. "It wouldn't go down so he kept trying to swallow and each time he did, the cup tore big gashes in his throat until it went down so deep it blocked his airway."

Roquefort suddenly woke up and looked around. He tried to swallow and then let out pitiful squealing sounds as he twisted and rolled in agony.

"He can't swallow without excruciating pain," Fawn said making clear to Tinker Bell what she was seeing. "He can't eat because it hurts too much for food to go down. He can barely swallow soft cheese, water or milk and he will stop after only a few small mouthfuls because it is too torturous for him to continue. Since he was brought here yesterday he has eaten precious little. If we can't get him to eat, he will become weak and those cuts and gashes in his throat won't heal very quickly. If he doesn't eat and drink soon or if those gashes get infected he may perish."

Tinker Bell turned and walked out of the stall back into the breezeway. She leaned against the wall and began to sob. Fawn followed her out and put a supportive arm around her friend. "Its okay, the healing talents are doing everything they can."

"He can't die, Fawn. He just can't. I took him to Vidia's house and now look at him," Tinker Bell said through tears. "I'm responsible and I have to do something to help."

"Oh, Tink, you're not a healing talent or an animal talent," Fawn told her. "You're a tinker, let us handle it. Okay?"

"But the queen said I had to care for the mice," Tink replied.

"And you can, there is plenty to do like read to them, comb their hair, help change their bandages and feed them."

Tinker Bell glared at Fawn. How could she feed Roquefort when he couldn't even swallow food? Suddenly, though, she had an idea. "You're right, Fawn, I can still help. And I think I know just how to do it." Then Tinker Bell lit off for Tinker's Nook to start work on her idea.

The little tinker fairy just knew she could save Roquefort's life if she could make her idea work. Tink, though, also had a person stake in keeping Roquefort alive. If the mouse died because of her deeds, she could spend several years banished from Pixie Hollow.

Tinker Bell had been sentenced to caring for the injured mice because she had put them in harm's way, violating the First Principle of Pixie Hollow: Do no harm. It was intended as the highest guiding principle for all fairies. It required that they do no harm to each other, to the humans on the mainland or to animals or insects of any type, the only exception being for reasons of self defense in a life threatening situation when all other options had been exhausted.

Subsequent laws based on this first principle also placed hefty penalties for causing the death of a fairy, human or animal. If Roquefort died because of her thoughtless actions Tinker Bell could be placed in confinement or banished from Pixie Hollow for up to ten years. In her case, since it would be classified as willful negligence rather than malicious intent, Tinker Bell would receive the reduced sentence of two years confinement or banishment.

This did cross her mind, but she was far more concerned with Roquefort's health than her own future and was determined to make things right. When she arrived at Tinker's Nook, however, she was shocked to find that it was in shambles. Suddenly any hope of helping Roquefort survive evaporated.

* * *

**Next: Queen Clarion and Tinker Bell find their solutions.**


	18. Chapter 12f

**DAWN RISING?**

* * *

"What happened," Tinker Bell asked Bobble. She had just arrived in Tinker's Nook and found it a bigger mess than yesterday.

"Vidia happened," he replied. "She flew in here earlier and started destroyin' everything. During her tantrum she kept screaming that it wasn't fair and that she wasn't the criminal. Whatever that means."

Tinker Bell sighed. "She was sentenced earlier today," Tinker Bell announced to her friend. "She must not have taken it very well. Vidia must still be blaming me for everything that has happened to her."

"Well don't you believe a word of it, Miss Bell," Bobble told her. "She's to blame for everythin' that's happened to her."

Tinker Bell picked up a broken acorn cup and looked at where it was nearly split in two. She also saw a damaged mouse cart. Silvermist sat in a corner, weeping and appeared shaken. The tinker fairy flitted over to her water talent friend.

"Sil, what happened?" she asked.

"Vidia happened," the water fairy replied.

"Yeah, so I've heard."

"Vidia just came in here like a crazed maniac and started to destroy everything. She flipped over the mouse cart I was about to drive away in. It scared me seeing just how uncontrollably angry she was. Then she flew into the workshop and nearly destroyed it outright with her wind talent."

"What?! The workshop?"

Silvermist nodded.

"First my house then the workshop, what is she going to try and destroy next? The Pixie Dust Tree?"

"Well she sure looked angry enough to do it."

"Where is she now?" Tinker Bell asked.

"Scouts took her away in wing cuffs," Silvermist told her.

Tinker Bell spent a few more minute with her friend. Keeping her calm and helping the young water talent to recover from the trauma of Vidia's rampage. The tinker talent then flitted into the workshop and was floored by how complete the destruction was. Tools, projects, acorns, broken pots and pans, lost things, all of it was scattered, damaged or destroyed. Even some of the mushroom tables where the tinkers worked were cleaved in half or torn from their roots entirely. Light rattles and hanging flowers where fireflies lit up the shop after dark were torn from the ceilings and were left in tangles on the floor, hanging from outcroppings or irrevocably wrapped around vines, mushrooms and branches. It would take weeks to restore the workshop its previous state.

_Fairy Mary is not going to like this_, she thought to herself. _She always says we're behind even when we're ahead of schedule. Now we really are going to be behind schedule. I see plenty of double shifts in the weeks ahead._ Tinker Bell flitted to her worktable. She looked for her hammer, but it too appeared to have been swept away. Somewhere in all this mess, she thought, were her beloved workshop tools. Tink preferred them because each was the perfect size, weight and balance for her. The tinker fairy also noted some small dings in her mushroom worktable. Bobble, who had quietly followed her, explained that this was where Vidia had pounded a hammer into the table before being restrained and taken away to confinement.

"Here," he said, "we saved your tools for ye." Bobble then proceeded to hand her a small satchel containing all of her favorite tools, including the hammer.

"Thanks," she told him while taking the satchel from her workmate and friend. "But it won't help. I can't do any work."

"None of us will, Miss Bell," Bobble answered.

"No, you don't understand, Bobble. I have a special project, but I can't build it with the workshop like this." Tinker Bell stepped away from him, wings drooped and her head held very low and looking terribly grim.

"Well what is it?" he asked. "Maybe I can help."

"Thanks, but I need to make a large mill, or a grinder. Something that can grind grains and seeds into powder."

"Whatever for, if'n you don't mind me askin'," he continued gently, realizing just how important this was to her.

Tinker Bell sighed before she explained what happened to all of the mice and how Roquefort was in such bad shape because of her actions. Bobble was understandably disappointed by what she had told him. However, Tinker Bell was still his friend and no matter how foolish she may have been, he was going to help and protect her like he always had before and always would in the future.

"It sounds like you could use a mortar and pestle," Bobble told her.

Tinker Bell's head cocked up. She turned around with a very confused look on her face. "A what and a what?"

"Aye, a mortar is a hard or heavy bowl made for grindin', and a pestle is a rough and heavy object used to do the grindin.' That should do the trick."

"Where would I find one of those?"

"Well, the healin' talents use 'em for makin' their medicines," he suggested. "And the cookin' and bakin' fairies would use 'em for grindin' down seeds for spices or grains for making flour. Say, if you're just lookin' for ground up grains, maybe all you need is the flour."

"No, it has to be whatever mice eat. I want to grind up their food into an easy to eat slush so that Roquefort will be able to swallow it with as little difficulty as possible."

"Oh, I see. That's why ye wanted to build a mill, so ye could grind up as much as possible."

"Yes," she replied.

"Okay, well draw up the designs and Clankie and I will make it for ye," he offered. "In the meantime, ye use that mortar and pestle to do the work until its ready."

"You don't mind? Even after everything I've done?"

"Miss Bell, we all make mistakes in our lives. Turnin' your back on a friend won't help matters; but it will make things worse because it will cost ye that friend. We'll be glad to help in yer hour of need."

"Thanks, Bobble. You truly are a wonderful friend." Tinker Bell gave the skinny tinker sparrow man a big, friendly hug before hunting down a piece of papyrus and a writing instrument to draw up her plans.

* * *

Vidia was in her confinement cell, yelling and screaming at the top of her lungs while she yanked, pulled and shook the large twigs that formed the secured door of her cell.

"You have to believe me," she said to the scout who was acting as a guard, "she is the real villain. If the queen is so smart and wise then why didn't she change that law in the first place? What is her excuse for holding a double standard like that?"

The scout talent didn't respond or even look at her. He simply stayed at his post watching the sunbeams that broke through the leafy canopy above slowly track across the ground and up the walls. They signaled mealtimes, break times and, of course, end of his shift.

"Okay, then answer me this," she continued, "Why is it every time I am involved in a tiny fracas with someone I get the blame for everything and the other person is practically treated like royalty?"

Vidia said this while conveniently forgetting that Silvermist had indeed been punished for provoking the fast flyer in the first place and had lost her water talent privileges. On a broader level, though, Vidia was indeed correct. Even when the queen didn't handle the infraction personally, the authority figure involved would usually hand down a severe punishment to Vidia while giving the other party a light slap on the wrist.

"You see, that is how I know everyone here in Pixie Hollow is out to get me and the queen willingly lets them get away with it. She is unfair to me all the time," Vidia claimed, trying to say anything to garner sympathy from her guard, although to no avail. Despite not gaining any ground on the scout talent she continued to spin her webs of conspiracy theories all of them describing her as the victim of suppression by the queen or by other talent guilds jealous of her great talent. Whether right or wrong, she truly did feel betrayed and rejected by Queen Clarion. Vidia believed it because she had convinced herself it was true long ago, but it was Tinker Bell, the first real threat to her place as the most talented fairy, that sent Vidia slowly over the edge into madness. Only strong intervention could bring her back from the precipice of total insanity. That intervention, however, was waiting in the Pixie Hollow Tree for some insight into that law Vidia claimed as her inspiration.

* * *

Queen Clarion stood by the gaping windows again. She had been floating there ever since Snowflake left for the Winter Woods to visit the mysterious Keeper. The queen had sent her regards to the Lord of Winter with the Minister of Winter, the only fairy, along with her small band of assistants, who could survive in both the warm and cold climates of Pixie Hollow with no ill effect.

Centuries before Clarion and the Milori, the Lord of Winter, had carried on a private romance which ended in such tragedy that the queen forbade all fairies (including herself and Milori) from ever crossing the border again. It isolated the winter fairies from the warm seasons and also ended the affair with her beloved sparrow man.

After the pronouncement took affect she would send love notes to him via one of Snowflake's assistants and he would reciprocate with his own letters of deep affection. However, even that became so emotionally torturous that Clarion eventually stopped. Now she would only occasionally send her regards, a courtesy between rulers. She had hoped the Lord of Winter didn't think she had stopped loving him. She never did, but Clarion recognized that she could not be an effective ruler if she were in a constant state of emotional trauma and upheaval.

_Please do not forsake me, Milori_, she thought wondering if somehow her thoughts and feelings could reach out across the vast expanse between them and find their way into his mind and heart. _For I have never forsaken you. No sparrow man could ever be your equal in my heart._

Sitting on her desk was a book, a diary from a previous monarch. She should have been pouring over ever page with diligent attention to detail. Instead she was standing at the window with wistful longing. This moment was precisely why she could not afford to think about her lost love. This moment was also precisely why she couldn't help herself but to think about him. At challenging times like this Clarion wished Milori were at her side so he could offer her his support, reassuring comfort, strength and counsel. Instead she was to face this test alone.

For more than an hour she stood and waited in private thought even as the other three ministers and Fairy Mary, along with the queen's helpers and even some of the staff of the Pixie Dust Tree were pouring through every book of laws and court cases that were available to them. Viola had been sent to the public library to try to find any additional information, but all that was available was a law book which listed the rule, but offered no background or reason for it to exist.

Eventually Queen Clarion was able to focus herself enough to begin reading through the private law books, journals and dairies of past monarchs to try and find something that would enlighten her as to why the law was enacted and left uncontested for so many centuries. However by the evening hours she could find nothing of relevance. When the others returned from their exhaustive task they too revealed that they had found nothing.

"Then there are no records?" she asked her advisors.

"None that are written down," Snowflake answered. "However, it may predate our written language."

"In which case no record would ever exist," the queen said, finishing the thought that Snowflake was reluctant to say herself. She took in a deep breath to clear her mind. Clarion knew there was only one duty left: a vote by the ministers.

"Ministers, you are hereby tasked with deciding if the Queen of Pixie Hollow has committed a high crime. Did I knowingly and or willingly violate a talent guild's right to equal treatment under the law? You are to sequester yourselves in chambers and decide if I am to be relieved of my crown. Do not vote by your heart, but only according to the law."

"You cannot be serious?" Sunflower asked astonished by the queen's request.

"I am quite serious, minister. You must consider all available evidence and determine if I have committed a crime worthy of dethronement."

"Isn't there anything else we can do?" Hyacinth asked.

"Is Vidia worth losing your crown over?" Redleaf asked. "This is probably just another one of her attempts to flout your authority and avoid any punishment for her actions."

"That no longer matters, the question has been raised and it is a critical one. None may be above the law, not even the queen," Clarion said. "You have your duty to perform, ministers, please carry it out."

The four ministers looked at each other and their queen. She was indeed quite serious, but they didn't have the heart to go through with what she had demanded of them. For a moment each just stood there, almost dazed, hoping someone or something would intervene and prevent them from having to carry out this horrid duty. Each of the ministers greatly admired Clarion. Hyacinth, the Minister of Spring carried a torch for her, though his was an unrequited love as it was clear her heart belonged to another. Thus far she had been the greatest monarch Pixie Hollow had ever known and none wanted to take part in toppling such a beloved figure.

Several seconds went by before they slowly began to file out of the queen's private office. It seemed no reprieve would present itself..., until.

"Wait a minute," Fairy Mary spoke up.

"What is it, Fairy Mary?" Hyacinth asked.

"Please not now, Mary," the queen said, not wanting to delay her own misery.

"We searched all the written records, but what about the unwritten ones."

"Mary," the queen said a bit frustrated, "there are no unwritten records."

"Oh, but there are, and we have own archivist right here in the warm side," the tinker replied.

"And exactly how does one archive unwritten record?" Snowflake asked.

"Before our written language emerged," Fairy Mary explained, "our history was passed down through a rich oral tradition by the performing talent fairies. And that tradition still exists in the form of Fairy Tale Theater where many of the plays are concerned with our history. I never miss a show and I can tell you for a fact that some of the historical reenactments that I see there were never part of our written history. Lyria is the fairy who performs most of the reenactments because she is a history buff. If anyone can help us it would be her."

Upon hearing this, the queen promptly sent Viola to fetch the performing talent Lyria. She and her ministers suddenly looked revived, as if hope had been restored to a hopeless situation, which it may very well have been.

* * *

**Will things turn out okay for both Tinker Bell and the Queen?**

**Tune in next time as this story FINALLY begins to wind towards its (hopefully) epic conclusion.**


	19. Chapter 19

Viola arrived at Fairy Tale Theater and spoke with Lyria. The summoner asked the performing talent if she knew anything about a law which specifically prohibited tinker talents from flying to the mainland.

"I know the law exists," Lyria answered.

"In your recollection of historical reenactments do you know why this law was enacted?" the summoner asked. "It would have been enacted before the time of our written language."

"Let me check through my folios," Lyria replied. "I could use some help."

Viola followed the performer into Lyria's private archives. Contained within were thousands of rolls of papyrus scrolls, each of which contained an historical play based on the old oral traditions. The two began to sift through the scrolls.

"This archive contains transcriptions of the early history of Pixie Hollow. They were passed down through the generations by the performing talents," Lyria explained. "Some were minstrels; others used puppet theaters, while a few like me put on plays. They would recount major events in our history to the masses to entertain and educate. I should warn you, some of the old tales were usually altered as they were passed down through the generations. Each new fairy would embellish to make the stories more interesting and dynamic. Some of these recollections are no more accurate than the fairy tales humans tell their children."

"Do you know which are accurate and which are not?"

"I've done some cross checking with our library and with The Keeper," Lyria answered.

"You've met The Keeper?" Viola asked.

"No, but we correspond a few times a year, typically when a new batch of books makes its way to our library. I look for details that would necessary follow from the oral histories into the written archives as a means of verification. I do the same when the scouts return with details of the human world."

"When do you find time to practice your performances?" Viola asked.

"I do my research when the other performing talents are putting on their own shows," Lyria replied.

Viola unrolled one scroll after another looking for anything relating to tinker fairies or prohibition to the mainland. "Aren't these catalogued?"

"They are, but not by content," Lyria answered. "They are filed according to the time periods in which the events portrayed would have occurred." The performing talent continued to sift through her vast library when something occurred to her.

"Wait a minute. Fairy tales, folk tales, faerie folk. Now that sounds familiar." Lyria began searching the scrolls from the time of Queen Elphame.

* * *

Tinker Bell went to the healing talent fairies and asked them if they had a mortar and pestle they could spare, but they had none available. "We always need them," the head of the guild told her. Tinker Bell then flew to the kitchens and talked to Dulcie who told her the same them. "Sorry, Tink, the baking and cooking talents are always using them. I can't loan one out even for a day or two."

The tinker fairy now felt her hopes dashed like breakers on the rocks. She stepped away from the kitchen and was ready to pin all her hopes on Bobble and Clank when a familiar face popped up.

"Hi, Tink," Rosetta said. "Why the glum face?"

Tinker Bell explained to her what had happened starting from the mice in Vidia's home to her needing a mortar and pestle to grind food for Roquefort. "But the healing, baking and cooking talents won't loan one to me," she said gloomily. "They always need them."

"Oh you'll never get anything out of those guilds, they're too protective of their wares," Rosetta told her. "Why didn't you come to me first, Sugarplum? I've got one I can spare."

"You do?"

"Sure, but I'll be needin' it back before the Autumn Revelry. Clank told me he had some big idea for the event and that he was needin' pigments from my flowers to make it work."

"I'll only need it for a few days," Tinker Bell said. "Clank and Bobble are going to make a big grinder for me once they get Tinker's Nook cleaned up."

The two friends, Rosetta the eldest of the two, and Tinker Bell, the youngest, flitted off to the Rosetta's home in her flower gardens. Once there the garden fairy provided Tink with one of her mortar and pestle sets. Since Tinker Bell had never seen one before, Rosetta flew with the tinker to the stables to show her how to use it properly.

* * *

During the long wait for Viola to return with Lyria, the four ministers moved into the queen's library and began to discuss privately amongst themselves the future of their beloved Queen Clarion.

"What are we going to do?" Hyacinth asked his fellow ministers. "If the queen is dethroned for upholding an unjust decree then all of us could lose our positions, too."

"What are you talking about?" Snowflake asked.

"We all knew the law existed and never questioned it," Hyacinth explained. "If the queen is found guilty of contempt and discrimination and is dethroned then we would have to step down, too. With no one to rule, all of Pixie Hollow would fall into chaos."

"Are you saying Vidia _really is_ guilty of sedition?" Sunflower asked.

"Don't be ridiculous," Redleaf insisted. "Vidia understands the need for law and order; she just wants to ignore the rules when she feels like it. Besides, every fairy and sparrow man through the centuries accepted the law without question. It is not as if the five of us were alone in overlooking it."

"Hyacinth is right," Sunflower said continuing Hyacinth's train of thought, "even if Vidia had no intention of overthrowing the monarchy that would still be the end result. We can't dethrone the queen for the sake of all the fairies in Pixie Hollow."

"Actually, it is Vidia who is the one guilty of contempt," Redleaf said. "She reasoned that the statute may have been unjust decades ago when no one else did. It is the duty of every fairy and sparrow man in Pixie Hollow to inform the queen when they believe that an edict is in violation of our sacred principles. She failed to do so, instead choosing to assume that the queen was maliciously ignoring our founding doctrine."

"So then we don't have to dethrone the queen," Hyacinth said. "In fact, we don't even need to vote."

"Actually, we do," Redleaf countered. "It is still a legitimate question. We cannot avoid the challenge because it comes from a fairy we dislike. The queen said we are to follow the law, not our hearts."

"How can you stand against the queen like that?" Sunflower returned. "Against all of us?"

"I'm not, but we must follow the queen's orders on this," Redleaf replied. "If we do not then we would be as guilty as Vidia for ignoring our responsibilities. We owe it to ourselves and to the queen to see that proper justice is done."

"'Proper justice?' After what Vidia did to Tinker Bell and to Tinker's Nook and then to the queen? Are you being serious?" Hyacinth said.

"Ministers," Snowflake interjected, "If we do not perform our responsibilities correctly then there will always be questions surrounding Queen Clarion's moral authority to rule."

"So we should just dethrone the queen and let Vidia win?" Hyacinth said, a bit hyper.

"No, if we can find lawful and irrefutable proof that would exonerate the queen then not only would we be carrying out our duties to their fullest, but it would also discredit all of Vidia's challenges against the queen's authority," Snowflake stated.

"You mean we could put that obnoxious little flyer in her place?" Hyacinth said rather gleefully.

"Not my preferred choice of words, but yes," Snowflake said.

"Well what kind of argument could we make that would vindicate Queen Clarion and deconstruct Vidia's challenge?" Hyacinth asked.

For several minutes there was silence among the ministers. Each one would look at the other hoping for a spark, but none came. They needed a rebuttal so strong that not even Vidia could question it.

Then Snowflake spoke. "We could argue on the grounds of 'reasonable expectations,'" she said.

"What exactly does that mean?" Hyacinth asked.

"That the queen assumed, as everyone else did, that the law had a reasonable and useful purpose. The same assumption we all make about all of our laws," Snowflake finished.

"So when Tinker Bell challenged the status quo it eventually led to Queen Clarion rethinking the usefulness of the law itself and eliminating it," Hyacinth said.

"Yes," Snowflake replied.

"Do you think that will be enough for us to preserve Clarion's rule?" Hyacinth asked. "Is there another argument we could make in case this isn't enough?"

"I think it will be more than sufficient," Redleaf answered. "As wise and intelligent as the queen is, she isn't perfect. No fairy is, but when she realized the unjust nature of the law she used her authority to overturn an incompatible regulation. In my opinion the queen performed her duties appropriately."

"So then the queen can't be guilty of a crime," Hyacinth said, a smile playing across his face.

"Indeed she cannot," Redleaf answered.

"Should we vote now or wait for Lyria to return?" Sunflower asked.

"Perhaps a straw poll?" Snowflake suggested. "This will allow us to review Lyria's evidence with an open mind."

The ministers agreed. "On the matter of a vote of no confidence against Queen Clarion," Redleaf began, "all those in favor of a vote of no confidence signify by saying 'aye.'"

All were silent.

"Then we are in agreement," Snowflake offered. "If Lyria's evidence does not significantly undermine the queen then the vote will stand."

Minutes later a messenger arrived to let them know that Viola had arrived with Lyria.


	20. Chapter 20

Tinker Bell mixed red millet, oats and sunflower seeds into the mortar. She pushed and twisted the pestle to crush the foods into a fine powder. Even though she was a tinker, the twisting and crushing motions were not a regular part of her daily duties. Her arms and hands began to hurt from the repetitive movements and she had to switch back and forth between her right and left hands to grind up the food into the fine powder she desired as quickly as possible.

"Is this your idea, Tink?" Fawn asked.

"Yeah, I'm going to crush all these foods into powders and pastes," she said. Arrayed before her was a small collection of foods that the mice loved to eat including carrots, apples, raisins, bananas, dates, figs, corn kernels, bread, oats and some cake crumbs from the kitchen. In a bowl were some strawberries and bananas that had been mashed together. "I'm going to pack so much nourishment into each spoonful that Roquefort will get all he needs even if he only eats a little bit."

"Outstanding, but why didn't we ever think of it?"

"Probably because no one's ever stuffed mice into Vidia's house before," Tinker Bell joked.

Fawn snickered.

"There is an old tinker saying," Tink said, "'necessity is the fairy queen of invention.'"

"Gotcha, can I help?"

"Well, I've already mashed some fruits for him. Maybe he'll be able to eat some of that."

"Let's give it a try," Fawn said taking the bowl. "I'll let you know how he takes to it."

* * *

Upon returning to the queen's office in the Pixie Dust Tree, Lyria showed the monarch, her advisors and Fairy Mary several manuscripts for old plays which seemed to partially explain the existence of the old law. As the queen flipped through the pages and read some of the directions and dialogue, Lyria explained its contents.

"Thousands of years ago tinker talents were not prohibited from going to the mainland," she began. "However, with no tasks to perform there, none ever went. Until a curious young sparrow man flew to the world of the humans one spring season to learn more about the lost things that washed up on the shores of Never Land. When he arrived he saw wonders of human ingenuity that inspired the tinker to create new devices for Pixie Hollow."

"Sound familiar?" Sunflower told Hyacinth. The Minister of Spring grinned in return.

"When the next spring season came several tinkers followed the sparrow man to see the amazing sights he had described. During the night they went into the shops and workplaces and found so many new inventions and ideas that it kept the tinkers inventing for several years."

"Very familiar," Hyacinth whispered back with an even bigger grin.

"Unfortunately, the curiosity of some of the tinker fairies got the best of them. It was no longer enough to see these inventions they wanted to know how the humans applied them. They began to sneak into the towns and hamlets during the daylight hours to watch the mainlanders work, but a few of them were seen by the human children. When the tinkers retreated to an abandoned castle some of the children followed. The humans concluded that the fairies lived there and sought them out. Believing that the fairies were enchanted, benevolent creatures who could grant wishes through fairy magic the humans left offerings of food, gold or other precious items in exchange for protection, revenge or good fortune."

Queen Clarion listened intently to this amazing tale of Pixie Hollow history. As Lyria spoke the queen kept wondering why this was never included in her history training when she was a princess. Instantly, though, she answered her own question. _The old oral histories are not maintained by The Keeper or the scribes, but by the performing talents and were never transcribed to our history texts._ It was an oversight she intended to rectify immediately after this business with Vidia was concluded.

"This began a series of very unfortunate events which turned the human population against us for several millennia. The humans of the mainland began to seek out fairies everywhere, hoping to befriend them and win their loyalty and industry. A few of the tinkers who ventured into the towns during daylight hours were captured by adults who wanted to use them to their own ends. However, the tinkers used their talents to escape their captivity. Believing that they had offended the fairies, humans began to blame all manner of bad fortune on fairies seeking retribution for being treated poorly."

"Soon, when a child disappeared, the humans reckoned that fairies must have stolen it, carrying it off and turning it into a half human, half fairy creature. Most likely what really happened was that a child simply got lost, disappeared, died or was abandoned, but these kinds of miseries were regularly attributed to the fairies. According to several folk tales a fairy tried to befriend a human child and helped it to learn about us. Supposedly the child recounted to its parent all that it had learned about fairy society. The humans believed that the only way a child could know such details was that if it was actually a fairy in human form, also known as a changeling. This tale spread and soon human children accused of being fairies in disguise were persecuted or often put to death."

"Oh dear, how awful," Fairy Mary gasped.

"These and other stories were all retold often enough that they soon gained wide acceptance throughout the mainland. Before being sighted, fairies were considered neutral or benevolent, after these events emerging folklore cast fairies as everything from pranksters to beings of pure evil. In one collection of these stories there is even a description of the Fairy Queen as taking a human lover and then tithing him to the underworld. A ritual she would repeat every few years."

"They can't be serious," Hyacinth said rather defensively. "Her highness the queen would never do such a thing and she most certainly has no attachments to evil forces of any sort." Realizing that he had just said this out loud and that everyone was staring at him, the Minister of Spring turned several shades of red before sliding behind the Minister of Summer to hide.

Lyria continued, "Unfortunately, much of what humans believed about fairies came from their own fervent imaginations. Humans during that time period were poor, uneducated, illiterate and grossly unsophisticated. They used stories recounted in folk tales of magical creatures to explain anything they did not understand. Like our own pre written language period, these tales were embellished and expanded by each person who told them as they spread across the land. Soon the entire mainland believed these grossly inaccurate stories. More were later added that supposedly furnished methods of repelling fairies and protecting children from being snatched in the middle of the night. None of them worked, but that didn't stop the human population from trying such absurd things as leaving scissors around infants to keep them safe from being stolen by fairies in the middle of the night."

"The tinker influence on humankind was very far reaching. The legends that the humans spun would eventually send pirates searching for Never Land. Some found our island home and have tried to use it as a sanctuary to escape capture by the nations whose gold they plunder. This would eventually lead to the loss of the Enchanted Mirror of Incanta, the presence of Peter Pan, the Lost Boys and Captain Hook on our island and even the arrival, centuries ago, of the Indian tribe who thrive on the headland."

"Is this why the law was first written?" Queen Clarion asked Lyria.

"That is correct, your highness. When Queen Elphame became aware of how much the tinkers' interference was influencing the humans and endangering human life and threatening both fairy life and Pixie Hollow itself she banned tinkers from ever going to the mainland again. At least until a future queen decided it was appropriate for them to return. She also forbid the use of lost things in any tinker made constructions and removed all the new tinker inventions that were inspired by the human technology. Queen Elphame wanted to eliminate all human influence from Pixie Hollow to prevent the tinkers from being tempted to return to the mainland."

"That's why no tinker in recent memory has ever had an interest in going to the mainland," Fairy Mary opined. "Over the thousands of years during prohibition they convinced themselves that they had no purpose or task there. They even rejected lost things because of this old law. It simply became part of our culture to stay in Pixie Hollow and use only what was around us. We never even knew why."

"That is a likely conclusion, Fairy Mary," Lyria said.

"If we allow the tinkers to return to the mainland could history repeat itself?" Clarion asked her advisors.

Although the question was directed at the queen's ministers, it was Lyria, the performer and part time history scholar who spoke first. "Humans seemed to have changed in recent years," she said. "Their shift towards scientific exploration and away from folk tales means that such a reaction to our presence were we ever seen, wouldn't result in farfetched tall tales or the devastating repercussions that followed."

"Yes, but would their desire for scientific discovery send them looking for us?" Hyacinth asked. "Tinker Bell seems quite bold when it comes to the humans and their inventions."

"To be fair ministers," Lyria spoke up again, "the human adults have increasingly rejected the old folk tales as mythology and unscientific nonsense. The children believe in us because the parents have reduced those old folk stories to fairy tales. Something for children to enjoy while young, but grow out of as they age."

"Like the stories of Pinocchio, Snow White or Sleeping Beauty?" Snowflake asked.

"Yes, exactly," Lyria stated. "In this day, many of the old tales are being rewritten to teach children caution or preach good morals. Not to be believed as fact. Were a child to ever see a fairy and tell his or her parents, the adults would simply dismiss it as little more than a child's vivid imagination. Even the adults would not likely believe they saw a fairy were they to glimpse one."

The queen drew in a deep breath and let it out as she absorbed and processed what had been told to her. She remained in deep thought for several minutes while her advisors, Fairy Mary and Lyria waited. Clarion once more stared out across the forests and meadows, looking directly at the snow covered mountains of the Winter Woods. She looked through the window pretending she could see her Lord Milori flying on his owl across the snowy mountains. It brought her some comfort to imagine this, even though she knew there would never come a time she would ever see him again.

"Your highness?" Redleaf spoke. His voice woke Clarion from her reverie.

"The ministers have come to a decision," he said.

She turned around to face her advisors. Clarion thanked Lyria for her help and then dismissed her. Fairy Mary turned to leave, but the queen asked her oldest and dearest friend to stay.

"Yes, ministers, what is your decision?"

Redleaf stood front and center and delivered the verdict. "We, the assembled ministers and advisors to her majesty, Queen Clarion, by unanimous decision, put forth a vote of full and unwavering confidence," he said. "It is our opinion that Vidia failed in her responsibility to inform the queen when she concluded that the law may have been unjust. We also believe that the queen relied on reasonable expectations, as all the fairies did, that the law had a reasonable and meaningful purpose. We find that the queen did not commit a high crime or misdemeanor against Pixie Hollow. Further, it is our firm belief that the queen acted appropriately and with proper authority once she considered the law to be unjust. We recommend that no action should be taken against her."

Then the four ministers assembled stood side by side and said in unison, "All hail Clarion, Queen of the Never Fairies and ruler of all Pixie Hollow. Long live the queen."

The queen smiled both at her ministers' loyalty and because she could finally put this ordeal behind her. With this done she had one last task to perform. Complete the sentencing of Vidia.

* * *

**Author's Note: Some of what Lyria explains to the queen and the ministers was taken from research off of Wikipedia. The rest I just made up and inserted into the in universe canon.**

**I hope you enjoy and thanks for reading. Please review.**


	21. Chapter 21

The sun had set beyond the horizon, the sky had turned dark and the rising moon cast its mesmerizing illumination across the island of Never Land. In the mouse stables Tinker Bell was still crushing foods to be fed to Roquefort so he could eat even as his throat healed. She hoped that her work wasn't for naught. Tink's arms felt almost as sturdy as the mush in the mortar. Hours of crushing food had left the muscles in her arms screaming for relief, but she wouldn't allow herself to stop. Tinker Bell had to make this right. Then she would have to make something else right. The little tinker fairy had plenty of time to rethink her actions against Vidia, and to consider what Queen Clarion had told her and Silvermist. It left her feeling uncertain about herself and her disgust towards Vidia.

Fawn came racing towards the tinker fairy, her face lit up with good cheer. "It's working, Tink," Fawn told her. "He ate everything in that bowl. It was slow, but he didn't stop or turn away like he was doing earlier. Keep at it."

"I'd like to, Fawn, but my arms are about to fall off," the tinker said. "I'll be lucky if I can move my arms tomorrow morning."

"Let me take over for you," the animal fairy said taking the mortar and pestle from Tinker Bell and grinding down the food in the bowl. "I'll get a couple of the animal talent healers to work on this tomorrow for Roquefort's meals. That way you can get some rest."

Tinker Bell could only sigh. "I can't even do that."

Fawn looked at her quizzically. "Why?"

"I have to help Vidia capture the rest of the thistles, starting tomorrow."

"Now why do you have to help that jerk weed flyer? She's the one who started all of this."

"Yeah, I know, but what I did was wrong. I shouldn't have let my anger get the better of me," Tinker Bell explained. "I destroyed her house, now I have to make it up to her. Queen Clarion's orders."

Fawn looked at her friend in utter disbelief. "You actually sound like you feel bad for putting Vidia in her place."

Tinker Bell stood up and took a few steps away from her friend, her back turned to Fawn. The tinker fairy slowly turned around as if ashamed to make this admission, "I kind of do."

The animal fairy was stunned into silence. After a few moments had passed, Fawn asked, "Why? Why in the Second Star's name would you feel bad for finally sticking it to that obnoxious brat of a fairy?"

"Because I ruined her home," Tinker Bell responded. "I destroyed everything she ever owned."

"She destroyed yours first, Tink," Fawn pointed out. "At least she still has a roof over her head. You don't even have that. And besides, a flyer's home tends to be rather spartan. A tinker's house can get pretty messy with tools, designs, works in progress."

Tinker Bell began to grin and even chuckled as Fawn spoke. "What's so funny?" the animal talent asked.

"You pretty much described my home, perfectly," the tinker answered. The smile drained from her face. "Well, it used to be like that."

"Well then I don't get why you aren't more upset? Why do you feel so sick about giving her a taste of her own medicine?"

"Because it was wrong," Tinker Bell replied. "How long have I been here? A few months? How long has Vidia?"

"Um..., I think around 235 years," Fawn said, her eyes looking skyward as she thought about her answer. "She arrived before I did. I'm just barely a hundred."

"Exactly, she had history there. I never really had time to get really comfortable." Tinker Bell paused. "Besides, the queen was right. It wasn't my place to do anything. It is her responsibility to deal with Vidia."

"Well all of Pixie Hollow disagrees with you, Tink," Fawn told her. "Everyone is pleased as pixie dust at what you did. Vidia's had this coming for two hundred years and I'm glad you had the wings to do it."

"That's something else that bother's me, Fawn. Why is everyone so happy that I did this to Vidia? It sounds like they are all out for her blood." Tink sat back down next to her friend. Her eyes betraying more than her words ever could.

"They are, Tink. Some of the nasty things Vidia has done to us over the years would make your skin crawl," Fawn said. "Rosetta has some real horror stories. Next time you see Ro you should ask her to tell you some of the scarier ones. You'll see."

Tinker Bell sat thoughtfully, still unsettled by what was going on around her. _How could so many fairies hate one fairy so much that they actually want to see harm come to her?_ she asked herself. Tinker Bell had seen a few glimpses of Vidia's nastiness. If she had endured more perhaps she would understand Fawn's argument better. But something else was still nagging at her. She had lost her temper, becoming so blind with anger she badly hurt her mouse friends in the process. This was a side of herself she had not seen before and it frightened her. Is this what the other fairies of Pixie Hollow really wanted? Revenge at any cost? This just couldn't be right.

Fawn said nothing immediately, apparently deciding that she wasn't about to change Tink's mind. Instead she chose a different line of questioning. "So what do you intend to do?"

Tinker Bell gave some consideration to the question before answering. "Vidia doesn't have any friends, does she?"

"No," Fawn replied. "I told you she can be pretty nasty. She thinks she is so much better than the rest of us."

"I wonder if that's why she thinks she is so superior?"

"What? I don't understand, Tink?"

"What if all she has in her life is her talent? Vidia has no friends, and doesn't even live with the rest of her guild like the rest of us do. What if all she has is her talent to feel good about herself? She has to be terribly lonely living the way she does."

"Wow, where did that come from?"

"Just an observation, I suppose. When we first met all she could talk about was how great her talent was and all the terrific thing she could do with it," Tinker Bell said, relating that day to her friend. "She seemed to take so much pride in her abilities. Does Vidia attend any of the regular functions in Pixie Hollow? Holidays? Dances? or other festivities?"

"She shows up once in a while, but just long enough to be seen and then disappears," Fawn answered. "Usually because the queen will practically demand that she make an effort."

"Is she dating anyone?"

"Uh..., no. Why do you ask?"

Tinker Bell's eyes darted about as she thought, "No friends, no social life, no romantic life, not even close with her own guild. She must be so isolated and alone that the only things that give her comfort are her talent and being the best in Pixie Hollow."

"Second best," Fawn said. "Remember? You're the best talent now."

"Oh, right," Tinker Bell said. To Fawn, it almost seemed like Tinker Bell disliked being the most talented fairy in all of Pixie Hollow. At least for this moment. "No wonder she hates me so much. I took something very precious away from her. One of her greatest distinctions. If she can't be the best in Pixie Hollow, and she defines herself by her talent then..., then..., what else is there for her? Vidia's life is suddenly empty and meaningless."

"Oh what," Fawn said with a chuckle, "now you think you can fix Vidia the way you fix pots and pans?"

"THAT'S IT!" Tink yelled standing straight up. "I'll fix Vidia. I'll be nice to her, be her friend. Show her that she can define herself by more than just her talent."

"What? Uh, I don't think she will appreciate you trying to fix her," Fawn said. "She seems pretty happy with the way things are right now."

"No, she isn't happy, Fawn. If she were then why is Vidia always doing those nasty things to us? Ever ask yourself that?"

Fawn just looked at Tink like she had gone nuts. "Why bother? If you're nice to her, Vidia just treats you worse. She takes advantage of your niceness."

Tinker Bell certainly knew this to be true. It was how their first meeting went. Tinker Bell approached Vidia with the intent of making a friend. Instead Vidia was dismissive of the tinker, insulted the entire tinker guild and even goaded Tinker Bell into wanting to go to the mainland oh so badly. Vidia knew that tinkers were forbidden to travel to the mainland at that time and knowingly set up Tinker Bell for a huge disappointment. Vidia rejected friendship and kept everyone at arms length.

"I'm going to do it, Fawn, I'm going try and become Vidia's friend," Tinker Bell announced.

"No!" Fawn put the mortar and pestle down, stood and wagged her finger at Tinker Bell. "Stop! Now sit. Sit." Tinker Bell began to sit down. "Good, now stay."

"Hey, wait a minute," Tinker Bell said standing back up again. "I'm not one of your animals."

"Sorry," Fawn said. "I guess it's sort of second nature to me. But that's beside the point. Didn't you say that Queen Clarion didn't want you to get involved?"

"She didn't want me to take revenge on Vidia," Tink answered. "Queen Clarion never said anything about not trying to be her friend."

Fawn wasn't as sold on the idea. "Y'know, maybe you should check with the queen first, just to make sure it's okay with her."

"Oh, Fawn, you worry too much."

"Tinker Be-ll!" the animal fairy responded, pushing her friend to do the right thing.

"Okay, okay," the tinker fairy said, throwing her hands up in a conciliatory fashion. "I'll speak with the queen about it in the morning."

"Good for you, Tink." Fawn took one look at the dark night sky and noted how late it was getting. "I'm going to check on the mice again and then I'll turn in. You should, too. Although you may want to see a healing talent for those arms in the morning if they're stiff and sore."

"I'll do that. Thanks, Fawn." Tink tried to wave good bye to her friend, but her arms were already getting tight from all the twisting. Tinker Bell had every intention of speaking with Queen Clarion in the morning about befriending Vidia. She just wasn't going to mention anything about trying to fix the flyer. Tinker Bell was the best tinker in all of Pixie Hollow. If she couldn't fix Vidia, no one could.

* * *

**Finally got this chapter written and posted. Still in Calculus, (it's a business calc course, btw) and it is kicking my butt all over the place. It may be a while before I get another chapter posted. Thank you for your continued patience and enjoy the story.**

**I should acknowledge that this chapter was inspired by some of the reviewers, who always seem to have great ideas, as well as by TINK IN A FAIRY FIX where she tries to fix other fairies and gets on their nerves while doing so. (I read the summary on Amazon).**


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